Santa Anita: Nysos rebounds to win vs. 3 rivals in Triple Bend
A month after suffering his first career defeat at Churchill Downs, Nysos returned to his winning ways Saturday with a dominant 5 1/2-length win against only three rivals in the Grade 3, $100,000 Triple Bend Stakes going seven furlongs at Santa Anita.
On the Kentucky Derby undercard May 3, Nysos returned from a 15-month layoff and came up a neck short in the Churchill Downs (G1) going seven furlongs. It was his first loss in four starts for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Baoma Corp.
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With Juan Hernández aboard Saturday for the first time in the afternoon, Nysos broke alertly from the inside post and soon was racing four abreast on the pace up the backstretch. Nysos was a head behind 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’s 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 Hernández, who previously had been aboard Nysos only 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 with a time of 1:21.28 on the main track baked fast by the 91-degree heat. Dr. Venkman, back from a nine-month layoff for trainer Mark Glatt, finished 4 1/2 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.”
After the near-miss in the Churchill Downs, Baffert considered having Nysos return in next Saturday’s Met Mile (G1) 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 October 2023 debut at Santa Anita and then came right back to take down the Bob Hope (G3) for juveniles at Del Mar. In his only start as a 3-year-old, Nysos won the Robert B. Lewis (G3) in February 2024. Now he is 5: 4-1-0 with $418,500 in earnings.
“It is exciting to have a good older horse in the barn,” Baffert said.
Nysos paid $2.40 and $2.10. Dr. Venkman, ridden by Antonio Fresu, returned $2.10. With the scratch of Vlahos on Saturday morning, there was no show wagering.