Other Trainers Impressed with Nyquist

Trainers of some of the horses that finished behind Reddam Racing’s Nyquist in the champion colt’s May 7 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) said the morning of May 8 they were impressed with what they saw the previous day.

Trainer Steve Asmussen said he was proud of Gun Runner’s Derby third and that Creator “incurred some traffic we were hoping to avoid."

He went on to add, "I will give them couple of days off and they will go back to the track Wednesday and let the dust settle and see how they’re doing. These two will have a good year. There are a lot of races for them.”

A son of Candy Ride  , Gun Runner was the Derby third choice on the basis of two consecutive grade II stakes wins.

Asmussen also expressed admiration of Nyquist.

“He’s eight-for-eight and a five-time grade I-winning champion and Kentucky Derby winner," he said. "What a resume. He’s really special.”

“We just got beat by a superstar,” said Neal McLaughlin, assistant to his brother, Kiaran, who trains fourth-place finisher Mohaymen. “That horse (Nyquist) is undefeated and a champion. Last year I thought Frosted ran a super race but he got in trouble and lost to a Triple Crown winner. This year it looks like we have another one. That’s good for horse racing. 

“It was a little disappointing for me because I thought we really had a chance. But it’s the Kentucky Derby and it’s not easy to win,” McLaughlin said of Mohaymen, a son of Tapit   purchased by Shadwell Stable for $2.2 million as a yearling, to have been closer to the early leaders. “I thought we would be a little closer to the pace but they went really fast and we got shuffled back. I thought we were third; that was a tough photo.”

McLaughlin said early indications are Mohaymen, a four-time grade II winner who sustained his first career loss in Nyquist’s Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (gr. I) win, would get a break and point toward the Travers (gr. I).

Trainer Todd Pletcher said both Destin (sixth) and Outwork (14th) returned in good order.

“Destin did not break sharp and got squeezed back from the ideal position we would have wanted," he said. "He was able to recover, got into contention turning for home and he just couldn’t quite rally the last eighth of a mile. He got beat seven lengths. He didn’t run bad, he just couldn’t quite finish it off.

“I thought Outwork got a good trip and I was pleased with the position he was in until the half-mile pole and he leveled off after that.”

Pletcher likewise said he was impressed with Nyquist, who is from the first crop of Uncle Mo  , the champion 2-year-old he trained and stands at Ashford Stud and is the sire of Outwork.

“I thought Nyquist was very impressive once again,” the trainer said. “He won convincingly and I tip my hat to them and I’m very happy for Uncle Mo. Just when you didn’t think it could get any better. It’s a great run for all of us associated with him.”

Pletcher said it is not his mode of operation to run back his Derby starters in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) two weeks after the Derby, but that Stradivari, who worked six furlongs in 1:14 2/5 at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, is under consideration for the May 21 race.

“We will fly him to New York and see how he works next week and assess how the race shapes up,” he said. “We will ship to Pimlico on the 21st and pointed toward the Preakness, with the $100,000) Sir Barton (also May 21) as a backup.”

Meanwhile, trainer Clifford Sise reported Danzing Candy, 15th in the Derby, sustained an entrapped epiglottis in the Derby and will return to Southern California for a break.