People who follow the sport hoped for that one special animal who could end the constant disappointment. Since 1978, the Triple Crown trophy — awarded to a horse that won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes — had gone unclaimed. “He took horse racing from the back page of the sports section to the front page of the sports section,” said trainer Doug O’Neill, who didn’t have a horse in the 2015 Triple Crown series. When American Pharoah was charging to history last year, his human connections were colorful people: trainer Bob Baffert, owner Ahmed Zayat and jockey Victor Espinoza. Heading into the Run for the Roses, often called “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” the hot horse is Nyquist. O’Neill, a 47-year-old native of Dearborn, Mich., is the trainer of the California-based horse, a sleek bay colt who has won all seven of his career starts. Uncle Mo tried 11/4 miles only once in his career, when he finished 10th in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic. When asked about the pressure that comes along with having a Derby favorite, Baffert laughed. Nyquist — a horse owner Paul Reddam named after Gustav Nyquist, a Swedish player for the Detroit Red Wings — is coming off a dominating win in the Florida Derby, where he went to the lead and did not look back, winning by 3¼ lengths. In the process, he vanquished Mohaymen, who had won his first five starts and was considered to be the Derby favorite. [...] . “I think people hope for greatness,” said trainer Dale Romans, who will run Blue Grass winner Brody’s Cause in the Derby. There were 20,000 people at Saratoga Race Course the Friday morning before the Travers Stakes to watch American Pharoah gallop around the historic grounds. At Keeneland Race Track, the day after American Pharoah won his final start, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Baffert brought the colt out of his stall to mingle with people on the backstretch.
Comment on Derby favorite Nyquist hoping to follow in Pharoah’s footsteps
By Tim Wilkin, San Francisco Chronicle: Sports
Sun, 05/01/2016 - 5:54pm
Welcome to Wopular
Wopular is an
online newspaper rack,
giving you a summary view of the top headlines from the top news sites.
Senh Duong (Founder)
Wopular,
MWB,
RottenTomatoes
MoviesWithButter : Our Sister Site
- "Expendables 4" Starts Shooting This Fall, Says Randy Couture at the Arnold Sports Festival more
- “Expendables 4” Gets Funding Interest from “Ip Man 3” Financier more
- "Ip Man 3" Distributor Suspected of Box Office Fraud, Parent Company Loses $200M in Market Cap more
- Yen Targets "Ip Man 4" for 2018 Release; Discusses Film with Director, Producer more
- "Ip Man 3" Shatters Expectations with $72M Opening [China Box Office] more