Nysos flexes some muscle in Triple Bend. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.—A month after suffering his first career defeat at Churchill Downs, Nysos returned to his winning ways Saturday with a dominant 5 ½-length win in the Grade III, $100,000 Triple Bend Stakes going seven furlongs at Santa Anita.
On the Kentucky Derby undercard May 3, Nysos returned from an extensive 15-month layoff and came up a neck short in the GI Churchill Downs going seven furlongs. It was his first loss in four starts for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Baoma Corp.
With Juan Hernandez aboard for the first time Saturday, Nysos broke alertly from the inside post and was soon racing four abreast on the pace down the backstretch. Nysos was a head back of 2023 Triple Bend winner Spirit of Makena through a quarter mile in 22.07 seconds and then led by a head over second-choice Dr. Venkam (5-2) after a half mile in 44.29 seconds.
From there, Nysos’ full talent was put on display. The 4-year-old Nyquist colt shook clear of Dr. Venkman at the top of the stretch and then extended his advantage all the way to the wire to earn his third graded stakes win.
“He broke so beautiful,” said Hernandez, who had only previously been aboard Nysos for a morning workout. “He was right there and really comfortable…Around the quarter pole, I shook the reins and he took off. He’s a really nice horse and you know Bob brought him in really good shape.”
Nysos won in a time of 1:21.28. Dr. Venkman, who was returning from a nine-month layoff for trainer Mark Glatt, finished 4 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Smooth Cruisein (11-1).
“Juan rode him beautifully,” Baffert said. “The horse broke really well, and he kept him up there. We are talking about a four-horse field, it is tough because you know you are going to be a big target. He just inched him up there and didn’t lose his spot. Once he took the lead, you figured out the horse that he is.”
Following Nysos’ near-miss in the Churchill Downs, Baffert considered having him return in next Saturday’s GI Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga. Instead, Baffert elected to stay home and hopefully provide Nysos a confidence-booster in the Triple Bend. It worked as planned.
“When he got beat, I really thought he couldn’t get beat, but he had a rough trip,” Baffert said. “He was jumping puddles; they were running on an off-track. But he came back well and was pretty aggressive for the first two weeks, then he finally settled down. If you see him in the paddock, he is just so chill, so cool. He has a great mind.”
Nysos won his debut in October of his 2-year-old season at Santa Anita and then came right back to take down the GIII Bob Hope for juveniles at Del Mar. In his only start as a 3-year-old, Nysos won the GIII Robert B. Lewis in February 2024. He is now 5: 4-1-0 with $418,500 in earnings.
“It is exciting to have a good older horse in the barn,” Baffert said.
With the scratch of Vlahos Saturday morning, there was no show wagering. Nysos paid $2.40 and $2.10 and Dr. Venkman, ridden by Antonio Fresu, returned $2.10.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Santa Anita with a 10-race card starting at 1 p.m. PT.
Triple Bend Stakes Quotes
Juan Hernandez, Nysos, Winner: “The horse felt really good. “I only worked him one time and he worked really good. I loved this horse. He broke so beautiful. He was right there and really comfortable. I just left him there because he wanted to be there. Around the quarter pole, I shook the reins, and he took off. He’s a really nice horse and you know Bob brought him in really good shape.”
Bob Baffert, Nysos, Winner: “Juan rode him beautifully, the horse broke really well, and he kept him up there. We are talking about a four-horse field, it is tough because you know you are going to be a big target there. He just inched him up there and he didn’t lose his spot and once he took the lead, you figured out the horse that he is. I am so proud to have a horse like this. He is so talented, I know the Met Mile would have been a great spot, but his last race, you know he needed it. Now from here we can build and pick our spots. Eventually on to the Breeders’ Cup. The way he handled it today, he didn’t take a deep breath.
“When he got beat, I really thought he couldn’t get beat but he had a rough trip. He was jumping puddles; they were running on an off-track. But he came back well, and he was pretty aggressive there for the first two weeks, then he finally settled down. If you see him in the paddock, he is just so chill, so cool and he has a great mind. It is exciting to have a good older horse in the barn. We have some nice mares, and we have some nice 3-year-olds coming around so, looking forward to next week, Belmont.”
