Reddam Racing's Nyquist (Uncle Mo), expected to be named 2015 Eclipse champion juvenile next month, turned in a half-mile work at Santa Anita Sunday in :48.40.
“He worked great today,” trainer Doug O'Neill said after the work. “He went 48 and change, just cruising. His regular exercise rider, Johnny Garcia, was on him and he was all smiles. As long as he stays injury-free and El Nino doesn't come blasting through the door, we're on for the Feb. 15 race.”
Last seen winning the Oct. 31 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Nyquist is expected to make his sophomore debut in the Feb. 15 GII San Vicente S.
“Timing-wise, after the San Vicente, the [Apr. 2] GI Florida Derby would be perfect, because it would be five weeks out before the Big Dance [May 7 GI Kentucky Derby]. In an ideal world, it would be the San Vicente, the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby.”
As a $400,000 graduate of the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Florida sale, Nyquist is eligible for a $1-million bonus should he win the GI Florida Derby. Unbeaten in five starts to date, the colt has recorded victories in the GII Best Pal S., GI Del Mar Futurity and GI FrontRunner S.
Likely Eclipse 2-year-old champion filly Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) worked three furlongs at Santa Anita Saturday in :36.40. The GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner could make her sophomore debut in the Feb. 6 GII Las Virgenes S., but “everything would have to go right with the weather; we can't miss anything,” Dan Ward, assistant to Jerry Hollendorfer, said Sunday.
Saturday's work was Songbird's first since her Breeders' Cup victory at Keeneland. She is unbeaten in four lifetime starts, with victories in the GI Del Mar Debutante and GI Chandelier S.
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