No Triple Crown winner this year

[LKTraz]

0

Kent Desormeaux was in the saddle for the Derby too but I think 2 factors other than the mud came into play at Pimloco.

At the Kentucky Derby there was a different pace setter so Nyquist wasn't pressured like in the Preakness and secondly Desormeux let Exaggerator kick it up a little sooner yesterday. I think he reigned him back just a little too long in the Derby.

It was a rather fast pace yesterday and Nyquist was simply used up at the end.
Quite a bit of jockying going on coming down the stretch at the Preakness. I was a little surprised that Nyquist came in 3rd rather than 2nd.

Going in I was looking for Nyquist by 2 lengths over Exaggerator but when they got to Belmont my pick would have been Exaggerator by 5.

Now I think Exaggerator will still win Belmont but Nyquist likely will not do any better than 4th due to the distance.
I don't know if Enola Gray can qualify for Belmont but THAT would change the field and everyone's strategy entirely. I could easily envision an Enola Gray/Exaggerator showdown.