Nysos battles Citizen Bull to the edge of the wire. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
Classic Saturday: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1)
Photo finish gets Nysos his first G1, gives Bob Baffert a natural exacta
Breeders’ Cup Release
DEL MAR, Calif. – Baoma Corp.’s Nysos ($3.40) wore down stablemate Citizen Bull in the shadow of the wire to post a head victory in the 19th running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) for 3-year-olds and up Saturday afternoon at Del Mar.
Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat, the winner completed the mile on the fast main track in 1:34.71. It was Baffert’s second victory of these Championships and 21st overall to put him in a tie with Aidan O’Brien for the most Breeders’ Cup victories all time.
Prat also won his second race of these Championships for nine overall and two in the Dirt Mile.
Citizen Bull, also trained by Baffert and winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) here last year, was pressured by last year’s Dirt Mile winner Full Serrano (ARG) and Touch of Destiny (URU) as Nysos received a ground-saving trip from Prat through fractions of :21.74 and :44.96.
On the far turn, Citizen Bull disposed of his two closest pursuers, but Prat had moved Nysos off the rail and began to close the gap. It took the length of the stretch, but Nysos finally pushed past in the final yards.
Nysos is a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Nyquist out of the Bernardini mare Zetta Z. The victory was his sixth in seven starts and his first Grade 1 triumph. With Saturday’s $520,000 check, he increased his earnings to $1,118,500.
Quotes:
Winning and second-place trainer Bob Baffert (Nysos and Citizen Bull) – “It should have been a dead heat! I knew I was going to win. Citizen Bull caught another gear and Nysos – he hadn’t run in a while – he dug in and it was just unbelievable. We work so hard and there are so many ups and downs, and you just want to be able to cheer for them coming down the stretch. That Citizen Bull, he looked like a champion that he was last year. Nysos is a great horse. It was actually his first Grade 1 win; a lot of people thought he was a superstar. They were on their bellies, and they ran … what a race. It’s a shame that one of them had to lose.”
Winning jockey Flavien Prat (Nysos) – “I was pleased with my trip and was traveling well. The pace was strong, but I was able to make up a lot ground. When I got in the clear, I thought I had the measure of Citizen Bull, but he gave me a good run and Citizen Bull ran well. At the wire, I thought I was ahead of him but it got me worried.”
Second-place jockey Juan Hernandez (Citizen Bull) – “You know, this one he loves to run. He loves to run on the lead. I knew the fractions were really fast, but he tried his best, and he was trying to come back when he saw the outside horse. He did everything that I asked for and, he just left everything on the track. He’s a really nice horse. He was trying to come back again in the last part, but it was a really late. I’m really happy with his effort. He’s back again. He got a lot of confidence from his last race, and then I think he’s gonna get even more confidence in this race. Congrats to the winners, Bob and all the team, and I’ll just wait for the next race.”
Fourth-place jockey Tyler Gaffalione (Tumbarumba) – “I didn’t expect that kind of pace (up front) but my horse ran fast, had a smooth trip and we made a nice run at the end. But it was clear the horses in front of us were not coming back.”
