With New Year looming large, American race fans are already turning their attention to the G1 Kentucky Derby on May 7, as the quest to find a Triple Crown winner starts again.
With New Year looming large, American race fans are already turning their attention to the G1 Kentucky Derby on May 7, as the quest to find a Triple Crown winner starts again.
It had been a 37-year wait before American Pharoah came along earlier this year, but before anybody suggests that it is asking too much to expect another Triple Crown hero so soon, it should be stressed that it would only be history repeating itself.
Don't forget that Affirmed, the Triple Crown winner in 1978, achieved it exactly 12 months after Seattle Slew had also gloriously pulled off the big treble of Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
In the modern era, there is now a list of qualifying races on 'the Road to the Kentucky Derby' -- 35 to be exact -- on which a tiered points system operates. The top points scorers earn entry to the Derby field.
Heading the leaderboard at present is the Doug O'Neill-trained Nyquist, an unbeaten colt by Uncle Mo. He has managed to win all four of his starts, accumulating 30 points along the way. Three of the wins were G1s, while his opening victory came at G2 level.
His crowning achievement came in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on October 31.
Nyquist carries the purple and white of Reddam Racing, colours that were seen on other big names such as Wilko and Red Rocks.
Darley have already bought Nyquist for stud duties at the end of his racing career.
Dan Pride, the chief operating officer of Darley America, said: "We purchased the breeding rights before the Breeders' Cup in October and we couldn't be any more excited about having Nyquist join our stallion roster when he retires."
Exaggerator, who finished fourth in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, is second in current standings, on 16 points, with Brody's Cause, third in the Juvenile, on 14 points, level with the Bob Baffert-trained Mor Spirit, winner of Saturday's G1 Los Alamitos Futurity.
The Keith Desormeaux-trained Swipe has 12 points to his credit. He has four times finished runner-up to Nyquist, including in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
There are still 25 qualifying races remaining in the build-up to the Kentucky Derby, the annual 'Run For The Roses' at Churchill Downs.
