{"id":13398,"date":"2016-05-25T08:04:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T15:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/derby-winner-nyquist-is-sick-and-wont-run-in-belmont\/"},"modified":"2016-05-25T08:04:17","modified_gmt":"2016-05-25T15:04:17","slug":"derby-winner-nyquist-is-sick-and-wont-run-in-belmont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/derby-winner-nyquist-is-sick-and-wont-run-in-belmont\/","title":{"rendered":"Derby winner Nyquist is sick and won’t run in Belmont"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2014 So much for a rematch in the Belmont Stakes.<\/p>\n

Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist won\u2019t run in the final leg of the Triple Crown after developing a fever and having an elevated white blood cell count, trainer Doug O\u2019Neill said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s out because of sickness,\u201d O\u2019Neill said.<\/p>\n

Any thoughts of a second straight Triple Crown were wiped in the Preakness last Saturday when Exaggerator finally defeated Nyquist after four previous losses.<\/p>\n

A rematch in the Belmont on June 11 would have been the next best thing to a Triple Crown attempt. Last year, American Pharaoh became the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s fine, but he\u2019s got an elevated white blood cell count,\u201d O\u2019Neill\u2019s assistant Jack Sisterson said from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, where Nyquist is recovering. \u201cWe just want to do right by him and get him 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nyquist came into the Preakness unbeaten in eight races, including a 1 1\/4-length win over Exaggerator in the Derby. Exaggerator turned the tables in the Preakness, winning by 3 1\/2 lengths over a sloppy track with Nyquist finishing third.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Nyquist had a temperature of 102 and blood work was done. The fever had dropped at some point but was back up again Tuesday, when results of the blood work came back.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it happens when a horse runs back quick,\u201d Sisterson said, referring to the short two-week turnaround between the Derby and Preakness. \u201cFor races like these, horses have to be on top of their game, Unfortunately, there\u2019ll be no Belmont.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Nyquist recovers, he will be shipped back home to California, with a plan that could include a trip to Saratoga for the Travers Stakes.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time Nyquist has been sidetracked. After winning the Florida Derby on April 2, the colt owned by J. Paul Reddam was shipped to Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky. His return to training was delayed by an elevated white blood cell count. At that time, he had no fever, was back on the track in a few days and went on to win the Derby on May 7.<\/p>\n

In 2012, O\u2019Neill\u2019s Derby and Preakness winner I\u2019ll Have Another was retired the day before the Belmont with a tendon injury and missed a Triple Crown chance.<\/p>\n

Without Nyquist, the 1 1\/2-mile Belmont loses some of its luster, but Exaggerator can expect to take on a number of rivals from the Derby and Preakness. Among them are Preakness runner-up Cherry Wine and fifth-place finisher Lani, Suddenbreakingnews (fifth in the Derby), Destin (sixth, Derby) and Brody\u2019s Cause (seventh, Derby). Governor Malibu, runner-up in the Peter Pan at Belmont on May 14, also is Belmont bound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 So much for a rematch in the Belmont Stakes. Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist won\u2019t run in the final leg of the Triple Crown after developing a fever and having an elevated white blood cell count, trainer Doug O\u2019Neill said Tuesday. \u201cHe\u2019s out because of sickness,\u201d O\u2019Neill said. Any thoughts of a second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":13399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-13398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13398"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=13398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}