In a thrilling stretch duel, Baoma Corp.’s Kentucky-bred Nysos wore down stablemate Citizen Bull to win the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat, Nysos completed the mile in 1:34.71.
Citizen Bull, also trained by Baffert and last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner, was pressured early by Full Serrano (ARG) and Touch of Destiny (URU). Nysos settled comfortably in third and enjoyed a ground-saving trip from Prat behind early fractions of :21.74 and :44.96. While Citizen Bull put away his two pace-pressers on the turn, Nysos angled off the rail to begin his rally. The two stablemates hooked up in a memorable duel with Nysos pushing past in the final jump.
“It should have been a dead heat,” said Baffert. “I knew I was going to win. Citizen Bull caught another gear and Nysos, he hadn’t run in a while, he dug in and it was just unbelievable. We work so hard and there are so many ups and downs, and you just want to be able to cheer for them coming down the stretch. That Citizen Bull, he looked like a champion that he was last year. Nysos is a great horse. They were on their bellies and they ran. What race. It’s a shame that one of them had to lose.”
A 4-year-old son of Nyquist bred by Susie Atkins, Nysos is out of the Bernardini mare Zetta Z. The win was his sixth from seven lifetime starts. It was his initial Grade 1. The $520,000 winner’s share of the purse increased his earnings total to $1,118,500. Nysos was a graduate of the 2021 Keeneland November Sale, the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, and the 2023 OBS Spring Sale.