Freshman sire Nyquist enjoyed a super Sunday afternoon with two new winners in the space of less than 15 minutes at Woodbine and Saratoga on August 2nd.
First, Nyquist's two-year-old son Gretzky the Great became his sire's second winner with a visually impressive gate-to-wire victory at Woodbine for trainer Mark Casse and owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber.
A strong second on debut at Woodbine on July 12, Gretzky the Great was sent off as the 1-2 odds-on favorite in his second start. He broke very sharply, went straight to the front and never looked back in the six-furlong contest, pulling away in the stretch to win easily by more than four lengths under jockey Kazushi Kimura.
Bred by Anderson Farms in Ontario, Gretzky the Great is out of the Stakes-placed Bernardini mare Pearl Turn.
About 12 minutes later, it was another Nyquist juvenile getting the win as Lady Lilly ran to the money for the victory at The Spa in maiden special weight company for owner Phoenix Thoroughbreds, trainer Steve Asmussen, and jockey Joel Rosario.
Sent off as the favorite in the strong field of 10, Lady Lilly sprinted out of the gate and matched strides with two others but grabbed the lead after a quarter in :22 2/5 seconds. She continued to inch away from the field as they turned for home and then held on gamely from the fast-charging runner up to seal the win.
Lady Lilly, a $280,000 Keeneland September yearling, was bred in Kentucky by Mueller Thoroughbred Stable, Ltd. She is out of Miss Inclined, a Stakes-placed daughter of Pulpit. Miss Inclined is a half to G2 winner Rush Bay and to the dam of G2 winner Itsaknockout, Listed winner Storm Power and G3-placed Hot Sean.
The two new winners elevate Nyquist to #1 on the freshman sire list by earnings. Nyquist is now the sire of of three winners from his first crop to race with Dream Quist, who won at Ellis in late July, getting her sire off the mark first. By Uncle Mo, Nyquist was the leading first-crop sire at the yearling sales last year by both average and median.
