Trainer Bob Baffert is preparing the unbeaten Nysos for his return to racing after almost a year away. Nysos, who hasn’t been worked since October 10 and hasn’t been raced since February 3, he recently returned on Thursday at Santa Anita with a four-furlong move in 48.8 seconds. Baffert said he had no race in mind for the debut of the 4-year-old horse owned by Baoma Corp. in a text message to Horse Racing Nation. “The goal is to get him back to the races when he is ready,” Baffert said Thursday afternoon.
Nysos has not raced since winning the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at this time last year. That victory increased the Nyquist colt’s winning streak to three, a total of 26 3/4 lengths. Before he went on a break and returning to run four furlongs at Santa Anita in 47.6 seconds on October 10, he as only worked twice in February after the Lewis. His first assignment since Thursday has been this one. Nysos was the futures-book favorite for the Preakness Stakes before being sidelined by Baffert’s inability to compete in the Kentucky Derby last year. Baffert can run his horses at tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc., and the Alysheba Stakes (G2) during Derby week might be at risk. Baffert announced that all three of his competitors in this year’s Lewis Stakes—champion Citizen Bull, Madaket Road, and Rodriguez—will start.