Exaggerator beats Nyquist in Preakness
[...] on a raw, rainy day at Pimlico and in front of the biggest crowd ever to watch the second leg of the Triple Crown, Exaggerator finally caught his rival.
Ridden by jockey Kent Desormeaux, Exaggerator powered down the stretch and went by Nyquist to win by 3½ lengths in front of 135,256 fans.
Nyquist won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., in October and a maiden race at Santa Anita in June.
“I always felt we had an exceptional talent in Exaggerator,” trainer Keith Desormeaux, Kent’s brother, said.
Doug O’Neill, Nyquist’s trainer, had gone into the Preakness confident.
Two of those wins had come on off tracks, including an eye-popping 6¼-length win on a sloppy track in the Santa Anita Derby in April.
Kent Desormeaux was content to keep his horse in the back of the pack before making his move.
While Uncle Lino and Nyquist slugged it out on the front end — the first quarter-mile of 22.38 seconds was the fastest in race history — Exaggerator found a spot on the rail.
“I wanted to strangle him when I saw him go to the rail,” Keith Desormeaux said.
Kent Desormeaux said he noticed all the other Preakness riders staying away from the rail.