BALTIMORE (AP) – We’re not making this up: Exaggerator is 0 for 4 against Nyquist. His trainer, Keith Desormeaux, is 0 for 8 against the undefeated Kentucky Derby winner.
So why is the Derby runner-up trying again in Saturday’s Preakness?
“We doubled-teamed him with Exaggerator and Swipe,” Desormeaux said at Thursday’s traditional alibi breakfast at Pimlico Race Course. “Maybe those two horses have dealt him enough blows so he can just back up a step and we can reach that goal we are trying to get to.”
Swipe, a promising Derby prospect as a 2-year-old, has finished second to Nyquist four times, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Exaggerator has narrowed his losing margin against Nyquist in each race, finishing 1 1/4 lengths back in the Derby.
A determined Desormeaux keeps trying to convince himself that Exaggerator is ready to run down Nyquist, the unbeaten 3-5 morning-line favorite in an 11-horse field. He’s says his powerfully built colt needed only one day to recover from the Derby, has been “happy energetic” since and can handle any track surface.