Nysos is out of San Felipe, will target Santa Anita Derby
Nysos, the 1-5 morning-line favorite in Sunday’s Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, will be scratched from the race, trainer Bob Baffert confirmed Saturday.
The defection of Nysos was reported first by Brad Free of Daily Racing Form.
“Going to wait for Santa Anita Derby,” Baffert said in a text message to Horse Racing Nation on Saturday. “I changed my mind. All good.”
Nysos has won all three of his races impressively, including both the Bob Hope (G3) and the Robert B. Lewis (G3) as the odds-on favorite in each. The son of Nyquist remained the 5-2 favorite in the Preakness Future Wager as of 1:45 p.m. EST. That pool closes at 6 p.m.
Without Nysos in the field, only four horses are expected to contest the San Felipe. That includes a pair trained by Baffert, Imagination and Wine Me Up. Imagination most recently was second in an allowance at Santa Anita, a neck behind stablemate Maymun. Wine Me Up, whose last four starts have come in graded-stakes company, was second last month in the Robert B. Lewis (G3), 7 1/2 lengths behind Nysos.
“My other two are nice in there,” Baffert texted HRN.
The two others in the field are Scatify for John Sadler and Mc Vay for John Shirreffs. They finished third and fourth, respectively, behind Nysos, in the Bob Lewis.
The San Felipe is a points race for Kentucky Derby 2024. With only four in the race, it would be for 50-25-15-10 points. The Baffert horses cannot collect points, because Baffert is ineligible to compete in the Derby.
