Zipse: With San Felipe scratch, Nysos’s 1st test is yet to come

Although he will not be invited to run at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, Bob Baffert-trained Nysos is regarded by many as America’s best 3-year-old. The impressive son of Nyquist was expected to put his unbeaten and untested record on the line Sunday in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita but instead will wait for next month’s Santa Anita Derby.

I’d love to say that the San Felipe would have been a good test for the budding star, but honestly, I cannot. The competition simply would not have been strong. What's left in this Grade 2 race amounts to little more than a non-winners of one other than. Nysos would have towered over this field as a prohibitive favorite. Anything less than another easy win would have been a disappointment.

With Nysos and his Baffert stablemates ruled ineligible to run in Kentucky Derby 2024, his first true test likely will not happen until he makes the trip to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes on May 18. That’s if everything goes as planned in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) five weeks from now.

Although his post-time odds Sunday would have been a testament to the overall lack of quality of his competition, they also would have spoken volumes as to the potential of Nysos.

It’s only natural for racing fans to want to see the next big thing. Flashes of brilliance by Flightline and Justify in recent years made mouths salivate, but they left us wanting more after only 12 combined starts by the pair of unbeaten champions.

A $550,000 2-year-olds-in-training purchase in April at the Ocala Sales, Nysos is owned by Baoma Corp. To say he has done nothing wrong in his first three career starts would be a bit of an understatement.

Both his sire Nyquist and his grandsire Uncle Mo were extremely talented colts who came out of the gate ready to dominate from the opening bell of their career debuts. And so it was for Nysos.

Sent off at surprising odds of 6-1 for his unveiling, he proved to be a gift for those who had him. The six-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita proved a walk in the park for Nysos as he strolled home 10 1/2 lengths clear of the second-place finisher on Oct. 21. The final time of 1:08.97 put an exclamation point on the debut performance.

Appearing four weeks later at Del Mar, he proved to be no first-out-winning phony when he blitzed the field in the Bob Hope (G3). This time pounded down to 1-5 odds, Nysos toyed with his questionable competition, winning by 8 3/4 lengths in racehorse time of 1:21.71 for the seven furlongs.

After about 11 weeks away, Nysos returned to the races in the Robert B. Lewis (G3) on Feb. 3. The 1-10 favorite made his sophomore debut, as well as his first try around two turns, look easy with a 7 1/2-length romp. It was a push-button performance at a flat mile, which earned him a big Beyer Speed Figure of 105 from Daily Racing Form.

Precocious and talented, it’s worth noting how relaxed he appeared early in the one-mile Lewis before getting his cue from regular rider Flavien Prat. That should be a good sign as the level of competition and the distances increase.

Out of the Bernardini mare Zetta Z, Nysos has dominated everything put in front of him to date, winning his first three starts by a combined 26 3/4 lengths. His expected competition on Sunday looked no more difficult than what he already has handled.

Perhaps I am being a little too hard on what would have been his San Felipe competition. Although it’s true that none of the four remaining horses have won more than a maiden, his stablemate Wine Me Up has finished second in a pair of graded stakes, and both Imagination and Scatify look to have talent. Still, the field looks terribly weak for a Grade 2 prep race for the Kentucky Derby.

If Nysos can win the Santa Anita Derby in similar fashion to what he has done in his first three races, it could leave this year’s Kentucky Derby as a race to see who is the second best 3-year-old in the land. Still, he will need to be tested by better competition than he seems to be finding in Southern California.

Is Nysos the real deal? As good as he has appeared in his first three races, he might be. Don’t expect next month’s Santa Anita Derby to provide any real answers, though. In my opinion, the talented colt will need to leave his home base before he has truly proven anything at all.