Johannes signaled that he will be a force in the turf division this season when he charged from off the pace to win the G1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on Monday, 27 May.
The four-year-old son of Nyquist, who entered the Shoemaker off a victory in the G3 American Stakes at Santa Anita last time out. The Shoemaker win improved the colt’s record to five wins and a third in nine career starts.
Patiently ridden by jockey Umberto Rispoli, Johannes was settled in mid-pack as Goliad set the early pace. Johannes began his move on the far turn before being tipped to the outside as the field entered the stretch. Let loose a furlong from the wire, Johannes closed like a rocket down the center of the course, eventually overhauling a game Funtastic Again in the final strides to win by a half-length. Du Jour closed late to take third.
Bred in Kentucky by owner Cuyathy LLC, Johannes is out of the mare Cuyathy, a Stakes-placed daughter of Congrats. Cuyathy is a half-sister to multiple Graded Stakes-placed Join in the Dance, and the family also boasts of such standouts as Pennyhill Park (Champion Older Mare in Canada), Elm Drive (G2 Sorrento Stakes, G3 Monrovia) and Mother Of Dragons (California Governor’s Handicap).
In addition to Johannes, Nyquist is also the sire of the undefeated three-year-old colt, Nysos, winner of both the G3 Robert B. Lewis and G3 Bob Hope Stakes this year; Encino, winner of the G3 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes and Crimson Advocate, recent winner of Gulfstream Park’s Roar Stakes in her three-year-old debut.
Nyquist is standing the 2024 breeding season at Jonabell Farm for $85,000, stands and nurses.
