Nyquist, the Kentucky Derby winner who finished third in the Preakness on May 21, is beginning to recover from a fever and high white blood count that caused him to pull out of the June 11 Belmont Stakes.
With assistant trainer, Jack Sisterson, on a pony next to him, Nyquist jogged one lap around the main track at Pimlico Race Course this morning. Since the Preakness, Nyquist has been limited to walking the shedrow.
"He went great this morning. We just jogged him once, backtracked him around and he was full of energy, everything we wanted to see first day back after his slight issue there but he's doing great," Sisterson said. "We're very happy and optimistic moving forward with Nyquist."
Sisterson said Nyquist will train Friday morning at 8:30 and is scheduled to leave Sunday morning for California, his home base.
"[Trainer] Doug [O'Neill] and [owner] Paul Reddam are excited to get him back at Santa Anita," Sisterson said. "We have four runners that are going to run on Belmont Day and we leave Sunday also. We're excited."
Nyquist won each of his first eight starts including the Derby on May 7. In the Preakness, he ran the fastest opening quarter-mile in race history (22.38 seconds). Exaggerator won by 3 ½ lengths and Nyquist was nosed to third by late-running Cherry Wine.