Making a case for Nyquist’s Preakness foes
Ten rivals prepare to take shots at unbeaten champ
Kentucky Derby runner-up Exaggerator could turn the tables on Nyquist over an off track after four losses to him on fast ones.
After the Kentucky Derby, with his horse 8-for-8 and a legitimate candidate to win the Triple Crown, trainer Doug O’Neill said he and owner Paul Reddam didn’t ignore the knocks on Nyquist along the way.
There were opinions that the colt couldn’t go the Derby’s 11⁄ 4- mile distance. Or that his best races were run in sprints. Or that other contenders — not the undefeated champion — were peaking at the right time.
“Paul and I would talk about, ‘Can you believe that idiot just wrote that article?’ ” O’Neill said.
Well, guys, we’re (sort of ) going to do it one more time.
Nyquist should walk into the gate Saturday an the odds-on favorite to win the Preakness Stakes, but a sizable field is set up at Pimlico Race Course to race against the son of Uncle Mo.
Here is a case for why each of Nyquist’s rivals could pull off the upset: Abiding Star: It took this colt by Uncle Mo six starts to break his maiden, but all he’s done in five races since then is win, last time out taking the $100,000 Parx Derby on the same day as Nyquist’s victory at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Claimed as a juvenile by trainer Ned Allard, he’s in the best form of his career. Awesome Speed: Another making a move up in class, he took the Federico Tesio Stakes at Maryland’s Laurel Park via disqualification. The horse first across the wire in the Tesio, Governor Malibu, proved himself a top 3-year-old when coming back as a closing second to unbeaten Unified in Belmont’s Peter Pan Stakes. Cherry Wine: Dale Romans’ Preakness contender missed the Kentucky Derby by only a head, running third in Keeneland’s Blue Grass Stakes behind Brody’s Cause and My Man Sam. His con- nections should like a forecast calling for rain Saturday. Cherry Wine broke his maiden last year over a sloppy track.
Collected: One of the Preakness’ top new shooters, this son of City Zip is a horse that, in hindsight, Bob Baffert figured could have hit the board in the Derby. His only defeat this year in four starts came in Oaklawn’s Southwest Stakes, where Collected broke slow. He’ll position well Saturday, pressing the pace.
Exaggerator: Although the anticipated second betting choice will face a cutback in distance to 13⁄ miles, there’s less traffic to 16 navigate than he faced while rallying to a runner-up finish in the Derby. The son of Curlin could turn the tables on Nyquist, too, over an off track after four losses to him on fast ones.
Fellowship: Compared with the Derby, a race packed with deep closers, the recent transfer to trainer Mark Casse’s barn sizes up as one of few looking to rally late in the Preakness. It could be a hot contest for the early lead, as Brisnet gauges seven of the 11 horses under consideration as speed or pressing types.
Lani: With a cantankerous personality, the Japanese-trained son of Tapit beat some of the USA’s best in spite of himself while finishing ninth in the Derby.
Lani has proved he fits with this class of racehorse if jockey Yutaka Take can coax a better break from him.
Laoban: He’s another son of Uncle Mo, but this colt hasn’t won a race. Laoban contended for a few, running well on the front end of the Grade III Gotham Stakes and Grade I Blue Grass. Because Gun Runner defected, Laoban also inherits jockey Florent Geroux, a rider known for judging pace well. Stradivari: Todd Pletcher hasn’t entered a horse in the Preakness since 2011. It appears that, unlike with the Derby, the trainer doesn’t show up to Pimlico unless he has a shot at winning. Stradivari won his last two races by a combined 25 lengths and earned a 101 Brisnet Speed Rating in his most recent outing.
Uncle Lino: After finishing third in the Santa Anita Derby, he received an eye-popping 109 Brisnet rating in taking Los Alamitos’ California Chrome Stakes on the front end. Trainer Gary Sherlock, 70, says he has never been to Maryland, but he won Grade I races that required shipping with Intangaroo in the 2008 Humana Distaff and Ballerina Stakes.