Recap and quotes courtesy of Breeders’ Cup publicity
Baoma Corp.’s Nysos (Nyquist – Zetta Z, by Bernardini), a graduate of the 2023 OBS April Sale, wore down stablemate Citizen Bull in the shadow of the wire to post a head victory in the 19th running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) for 3-year-olds and up Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat, the winner completed the mile on the fast main track in 1:34.71. It was Baffert’s second victory of these Championships and 21st overall to put him in a tie with Aidan O’Brien for the most Breeders’ Cup victories all time.
Nysos became the third OBS grad to win on Breeders’ Cup Saturday and fourth overall during the two-day World Championships.
Citizen Bull, also trained by Baffert and winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) here last year, was pressured by last year’s Dirt Mile winner Full Serrano (ARG) and Touch of Destiny (URU) as Nysos received a ground-saving trip from Prat through fractions of :21.74 and :44.96. On the far turn, Citizen Bull disposed of his two closest pursuers, but Prat had moved Nysos off the rail and began to close the gap. It took the length of the stretch, but Nysos finally pushed past in the final yards.
Nysos was purchased for $550,000 out of the Best A Luck Farm consignment by Donato Lanni, Agent for Baoma Corp at the 2023 OBS April Sale after breezing in :9 4/5. The victory was his sixth in seven starts and his first Grade 1 triumph. With Saturday’s $520,000 check, he increased his earnings to $1,118,500.
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Quotes:
Winning and second-place trainer Bob Baffert – “It should have been a dead heat! I knew I was going to win. Citizen Bull caught another gear and Nysos – he hadn’t run in a while – he dug in and it was just unbelievable. We work so hard and there are so many ups and downs and you just want to be able to cheer for them coming down the stretch. Nysos is a great horse. It was actually his first Grade 1 win; a lot of people thought he was a superstar. They were on their bellies and they ran … what a race. It’s a shame that one of them had to lose.”
Winning jockey Flavien Prat – “I was pleased with my trip and was traveling well. The pace was strong but I was able to make up a lot ground. When I got in the clear, I thought I had the measure of Citizen Bull, but he gave me a good run.”