Nyquist 'Fit, Happy, Ready' Nearing Preakness

Doug O'Neill has asked exercise rider Jonny Garcia the same question hundreds, if not thousands of times.

Almost every time, the trainer gets the same answer, especially when Garcia is coming off the track aboard a horse of the class and stature of Reddam Racing's undefeated Nyquist. O'Neill asked again May 18 after Nyquist jogged at Pimlico Race Course in preparation for the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).

"Well, whaddya think, Jonny?" O'Neill asked.

The exercise rider's response wasn't a word as much as an expression of admiration from the rider who has regularly worked the horse leading up to every one of his eight victories. Garcia's eyes lit up and he shook his head with approval.

"Shoooo," Garcia said, as if he was imitating a rocket taking off.

"You sense it, and you feel it, so you know that's kind of a rhetorical question," O'Neill said later. "You know that's the answer you're going to get, but you can never hear it enough times. He's a horse that just picks up everybody's spirit.

"You just feel better when you're around Nyquist. It's hard to explain."

O'Neill seemed to feel good after the two-mile jog, which the Uncle Mo   colt made clockwise alongside the outside rail with his trusted sidekick, lead pony Satire, with assistant trainer Jack Sisterson aboard. Immediately after the work, the trainer spoke candidly to a tour of Baltimoreans parked in front of the Pimlico stakes barn.

"How will he handle a wet track?" one tourgoer inquired.

"He'll handle the mud," O'Neill responded. "However the track is, he'll be fine."

"Could Baltimore do anything to make this a better venue?" another asked.

"It's already the best venue. It really is. I know they're talking about (moving the Preakness to) Laurel (Park)," O'Neill said, adding a sour face and a thumbs down to the last sentence, to the crowd's delight.

Later, he didn't seem as comfortable in front of the media throng, imitating a stand-up comic with microphone in hand during pauses between questions, dropping a "tip your waiters" and "two-drink minimum."

As for the mechanics of the jog, Nyquist gave his team everything they were looking for.

"He looks great, he's giving off great vibes, and we're eager for Saturday to come. ... He was hitting on all fours, which is what we're looking for watching him jog," O'Neill said. "He went around a full two times and couldn't blow out a match when he came back—fit, happy, ready."

Assistant trainer Leandro Mora, O'Neill's second in command, expanded on what they look for in a jog out of Nyquist, which isn't the same for every horse under their care.

"When he's not 100%, it's two steps and up—two steps and up," Mora said. "When he's happy, he's just going. But that's just him. Not all horses are the same. They're not cars. They're alive."

Good horses tend to be good workers, and Nyquist rarely disappoints, even during maintenance jogs and gallops. Next up for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner will be a gallop May 19, two days ahead of the May 21 Preakness.

"God, it's like a broken record here, but he had great energy and he looked great," O'Neill said. "We're just looking for him to continue what he's been doing here since he got to Baltimore—keep his appetite up and stay injury free, and stay loose."