Nyquist, Exaggerator Stretch Legs at Pimlico

With the threat of early morning rain looming over Baltimore, trainer Doug O'Neill called an audible the morning of May 17 and sent out Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Nyquist to gallop at 6:08 a.m. EDT, rather than his planned 8:30 a.m. start at Pimlico Race Course.

Under regular exercise rider Jonny Garcia, the undefeated son of Uncle Mo   jogged clockwise around the track to the finish line and then turned around and galloped a lap, picking up the pace at the half-mile pole for about 1 1/2 miles worth of exercise.

By the time O'Neill met with the media in the hospitality tent next to Pimlico's two stakes barns, a light but steady rain had begun to fall.

"We were really happy," O'Neill said. "the track looked great and Jonny said it felt great. (Grade II Black-Eyed Susan entrant and grade I Longines Kentucky Oaks runner-up) Land Over Sea had a really nice gallop at about 5:45 a.m. and Nyquist followed her and went around 6:00, 6:15 and he looked really well.

"I guess a little bit of rain is not that big of a deal, but if you get a downpour, and the track being a little uneven, and horses getting poured on while they're sweating, too, (they) can maybe potentially get sick. So, training under dry conditions seems to be beneficial." 

Rain is forecast in Baltimore through May 18, with 100 percent chance of precipitation on May 21, Preakness day, with a high temperature of 60 degrees, according to Weather.com. 

O'Neill said he continues to be happy with Nyquist's demeanor since arriving at Pimlico two days after he won the Kentucky Derby. The trainer said previously that Nyquist seemed most tired in his eight-race career after winning the FrontRunner Stakes (gr. I) as a 2-year-old, just 19 days after he won the Del Mar Futurity (gr. I). The Preakness, at a mile and three-sixteenths, is run just 14 days after the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby. 

"He's laying down a lot," O'Neill said of Nyquist. "I think getting here early and having everything going as smoothly as it has is going to have beneficial effects come Saturday, because he's sleeping a lot. Our night watchman makes a notation when he lies down. He's laid down a couple hours at a time. Even back home, he'd get maybe a half-hour or an hour where he'd lay down and get up. I'm really happy the way all horses are settling in, but Nyquist, particularly is doing really, really well." 

Nyquist's principal rival, Exaggerator, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby, went out on the track at 7:45 a.m. to gallop and O'Neill jokingly said that "we hid behind some bush and watched him from afar."

A reporter informed Exaggerator's trainer Keith Desormeaux that O'Neill said that he had timed his colt's gallop, just as he had with Nyquist, and Desormeaux grinned when he heard that. 

"Doug O'Neill probably never threw a leg over a horse; he needs all the help he can get," Desormeaux said. "I galloped for 25 years; don't need a clock when I watch my horses gallop. I'm glad to know Doug is clocking my horse. He must be worried."

Desormeaux sent Exaggerator out for 1 1/2 miles as well, beginning with an eighth-of-a-mile jog before breaking off into his gallop.

"He looked nice and limber," said the trainer, who began his career in Maryland as an assistant for the late Charlie Hadry before going out on his own. "I thought he floated over the track. It looks like he adapted to the surface real well. That's about his normal speed, so I wouldn't consider it aggressive. It was a typical gallop for him, but it was very nice."

Nyquist has beaten Exaggerator every time they have raced, but Desormeaux didn't sound at all discouraged. He believes the short turnaround following the Kentucky Derby could play to his advantage, and he certainly doesn't believe his horse is discouraged. 

"Obviously, numbers-wise, horse-for-horse wise, it's tough to think we can beat him, right? But the strongest attribute Exaggerator has is his ability to recover," Desormeaux said. "As you know, this Preakness is run back in two weeks. That's not normal in this day and age to run a horse back that quickly.

"Nyquist, I think the goal was to keep him fresh by only running twice this year, but maybe that'll backfire. Exaggerator has much more racing experience, therefore fitness, and the attribute of recovering quickly. I think I have the fitter horse, and to tell you the truth the fresher horse, going into Saturday."

Asked if he believes Exaggerator knows Nyquist, Desormeaux was fairly dismissive. 

"If he knows anything about Nyquist, it's rear view," the trainer said, "but as far as getting to know each other, some people say they size each other in the paddock and maybe warming up. If that's the case, I can tell you from a horseman's perspective that Exaggerator does not have one nervous bone in his body about looking Nyquist in the eye. There are some horses that get nervous.

"If you watch the Derby paddock scene, this horse Whitmore and Lani and a few other ones just lost their crackers. Sweating up and freezing up, and I told my owner leaving the paddock in Kentucky, Matt Bryan, 'What you see here you can't teach. Your horse has got class to the bone.' "