Mario, What Were You Thinking?
From TDN: Did Mario Gutierrez have to catch a plane or something?
The young jockey, who had done so well aboard Nyquist (Uncle Mo) throughout the horse’s career and in the
GI Kentucky Derby, rode a bad race in the GI Xpressbet.com Preakness S. at rainy Pimlico Saturday. Yes, Exaggerator (Curlin) deserves all the credit in the world for finally defeating Nyquist, but what would the outcome have been if Gutierrez didn’t ride the race like it was the All-American Futurity? The opening quarter-mile of :22 1/5 was the fastest in the Preakness since at least 1909, the first year fractional times were included in the charts.
There was indeed plenty of speed in the race, Nyquist included. Uncle Lino (Uncle Mo) liked to be up front early and so did Awesome Speed (Awesome Again). Though drawing more toward the outside, Collected (City Zip), Laoban (Uncle Mo) and Abiding Star (Uncle Mo) were still three more horses that were usually near the pace. But Nyquist gave no indications that he was a had-to-have-the-lead type. He rated comfortably off ‘TDN Rising Star’ Danzing Candy (Twirling Candy) in the Kentucky Derby and closed from eighth to win the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile after he got banged around at the start.
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