Five years ago in the leadup to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, the white-hot favorite was 2015 champion juvenile Nyquist, the leader of the first crop sired by champion juvenile Uncle Mo (by Indian Charlie). The results of that first crop made Uncle Mo the leading freshman sire of 2015 and set him in the firmament of breeding as one of the best sires in the land.
When his first champion son sent his first crop to the races in 2020, Nyquist followed the script and became leading freshman sire, with his crop leader being champion Vequist, winner of the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and Spinaway Stakes.
A relatively precocious juvenile, Nyquist appears to be adding speed to families, especially those of classic ability, and that is much appreciated by breeders and one that can yield important results in the most important races.
In the leadup to the Kentucky Derby this year, Nyquist’s fourth-crop son Encino won the final prep for the Run for the Roses, the G3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday, April 13.
A tall, strongly made horse, Nyquist has appeal for breeders that want speed in their programs, as well as those hoping to breed for the classics. In addition to Encino among this season’s classic crop, Nyquist is represented by one of the hottest racers on the West Coast, Nysos. The latter is unbeaten in three starts, including the G3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.
How this early-season success pans out for Nyquist during the Triple Crown season remains to be seen.
Nysos had a “minor setback” that required a month’s walking under tack and an equivalent cessation from race training that indicates his next start is likely to come in the early summer or thereabouts.
Encino is racing and training well, and he has the points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby after a few recent defections. However, the colt's connections have not yet finalized the colt's late spring/early summer roadmap, whether that leads to Churchill Downs or a stop further down the road.
A winner in three of his four starts, the Kentucky-bred Encino races in the solid blue silks of owner-breeder Godolphin, like his dam Glittering Jewel (Bernardini). The dam was showing something early on because she was sent into the G3 Prix de Royaumont at Chantilly as only her third start. After “racing a little freely” early, she was overtaken and finished sixth behind stablemate Kitesurf (Dubawi), who continued prancing up the class ladder and eventually won the G2 Prix de Pomone and G1 Prix Vermeille.
Glittering Jewel, after that G3 prep, went to Wolverhampton and won a maiden race over 9 ½ furlongs. That was her only victory, although she was second three times and third three times in allowance company in Europe and the States.
The Lexington Stakes winner is the mare’s second foal, and he is showing the athleticism and class hoped for in the mating of Nyquist with a quality mare from the A.P. Indy line. After winning his maiden, Encino advanced to win the listed John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway by a length from Epic Ride (Blame), who subsequently ran third in the G1 Blue Grass behind Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Just a Touch (Justify). Once again, Encino showed an advance in form to win the G3 Lexington by three-quarters of a length from The Wine Steward, twice a stakes winner last season and also second in the G1 Breeders’ Futurity.
The collateral lines of form indicate that Encino is a colt with considerable promise, and whether or not he takes a place in one of the coming classics, the colt should continue to progress.
In addition to producing a colt of Encino’s quality, Glittering Jewel is a half-sister to classic winner and champion Street Sense (Street Cry). Both are out of the winning Dixieland Band mare Bedazzle, and the sires in the immediate pedigree: Nyquist, Bernardini, and Street Sense, stand (or stood, in the case of Bernardini) at stud for Darley in Lexington.
Bedazzle was quite a useful filly who won four races but somehow contrived not to get black type, finishing fourth in four stakes. She left that form far behind as a producer, getting a pair of stakes winners, notably Street Sense, who was the champion 2-year-old colt of 2006 and won the 2007 Kentucky Derby and Travers.
Bedazzle’s dam was stakes winner Majestic Legend (His Majesty). She produced a stakes winner and was a half-sister to Mr. Greeley (Gone West), a multiple graded stakes winner and a sire of champions and classic winners.
Majestic Legend and Mr. Greeley weren’t the only ones to extend the legacy of their dam Long Legend (Reviewer). A winner in four of her six starts in England, Long Legend had five daughters who produced important stakes winners.
Long Legend herself was a strikingly attractive mare. She was a daughter of the important stallion Reviewer (Bold Ruler) and the exceptional racemare Lianga (Dancer’s Image). Probably the most talented offspring by disqualified Kentucky Derby winner Dancer’s Image, Lianga won numerous important races, including the July Cup, Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, and the Prix Jacques le Marois. Timeform rated her 133 as a 4-year-old.
As the fifth dam of classic hope Encino, Lianga stands as the pivot point in a further classic connection. Her fourth dam was Delmarie (Pompey), the dam of 1951 Kentucky Derby winner Count Turf (Count Fleet).
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