Odds-on favorite Nysos went eyeball to eyeball down the stretch with stablemate Citizen Bull and got his nose down at the finish to win the G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Saturday, Nov. 1.
The victory marked the first G1 win for the four-year-old Nyquist colt, who improved his record to six wins and a second-place finish in seven career starts. Nysos also provided trainer Bob Baffert with his first victory in the Dirt Mile.
Citizen Bull, last year’s G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, set a blistering pace with jockey Juan Hernández guiding him through early fractions of :21.74 and :44.96 seconds. Nysos settled into fifth under Flavien Prat, and moved into second up the backstretch, still two lengths from the lead.
Nysos drew alongside Citizen Bull at the top of the lane, and the Baffert trainees battled the length of the stretch, with Nysos getting the better of his stablemate by a head in a photo finish.
Bred in Kentucky by Susie Atkins, Nysos is out of the mare, Zetta Z, an unraced daughter of Bernardini. A half-brother to the Stakes-placed filly, Attabe (Distorted Humor), Nysos hails from the immediate family of G1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner, Unbridled Elaine and Graded Stakes winners Etched (G2), Emotionless (G2) and Out Of Bounds (G3).
Champion Nyquist is the sire of ten career G1 winners, four of which were this year. In addition to Nysos, Nyquist is the sire of Cavalieri, winner of the G1 Beholder Mile, Velocity, winner of the G1 Del Mar Oaks, and Argos, winner of the G1 Summer Stakes.
