Nysos surpasses Citizen Bull in BC Dirt Mile

Nysos fights Citizen Bull all the way to the wire. (Jenny Doyle/Beyond the Wire)

Classic Saturday: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1)

Photo finish gives Nysos his first G1, and Bob Baffert a natural exacta

Release of the Breeders Cup

DEL MAR, California. – Baoma Corp Nysos ($3.40) has worn out stablemate Burger Taurus in the shadow of the wire to capture a lead victory Saturday afternoon in the 19th running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) for 3-year-olds and older at Del Mar.

Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat, the winner completed the mile on the fast main circuit in 1:34.71. It was Baffert’s second win of these championships and 21st overall, tying him with Aidan O’Brien for the most Breeders’ Cup wins of all time.

Prat also won his second race of these championships for nine overall and two in the Dirt Mile.

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 by fractions of :21.74 and :44.96.

In the far corner Citizen Bull eliminated his two closest pursuers, but Prat had taken Nysos off the rail and started to close the gap. It took the entire length of the route, but Nysos eventually pushed past in the final meters.

Nysos is a four-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Nyquist out of the Bernardini mare Zetta Z. The victory was his sixth in seven starts and his first Grade 1 victory. Saturday’s $520,000 check increased his earnings to $1,118,500.

Quotes:

Winning and second place trainer Bob Baffert (Nysos and Citizen Bull) – “It should have been a dead heat! I knew I was going to win. Citizen Bull changed gears and Nysos – he hadn’t run in a while – he dug in and it was just incredible. We work so hard and there are so many ups and downs, and you just want to be able to cheer when they come down the stretch. That Citizen Bull, he looked like a champion that he was last year. Nysos is a great horse. It was actually his first win in Class 1; a lot of people thought he was was a superstar. They sat on their stomachs and ran…what a race.”

Winning jockey Flavien Prat (Nysos) – “I was happy with my journey and rode well. The pace was strong but I was able to make up a lot of ground. When I got clear I thought I had the size of Citizen Bull but he gave me a good run and Citizen Bull ran well. At the wire I thought I was ahead of him but I was worried.”

Second place jockey Juan Hernandez (Citizen Bull) – “You know, this one he likes to run. He likes to be in the lead. I knew the fractions were very fast, but he did his best, and he tried to come back when he saw the horse from the outside. He did everything I asked and he just left everything on the track. He’s a very nice horse. He tried to come back again in the last part, but it was very late. I’m very happy with his effort. He’s back. He got a lot of confidence from his last part. I think that will give him even more confidence in this race. Congratulations to the winners, Bob and the whole team, and I’m just waiting for the next race.”

Fourth place jockey Tyler Gaffalione (Tumbarumba) – “I didn’t expect such a pace (at the front), but my horse ran fast, had a smooth ride and we had a nice run at the end. But it was clear that the horses in front of us were not going to come back.”