Nyquist’s two-year-old son Laker Mamba became the 11th winner for his freshman sire with an impressive victory on the turf at Churchill Downs on October 28th.
Breaking a bit slowly under jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., Laker Mamba inched up to sit in fourth at the rail throughout most of the mile-and-a-sixteenth contest. He moved up along the turn and took the lead at the top of the stretch, pulling away to win easily by just over four lengths.
Bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall, Laker Mamba was a $235,000 Keeneland September yearling and is owned by Gary Barber and trained by Mark Casse. He is out of the winning Unbridled’s Song mare Disturbingly Hot and is a half-brother to Stakes winner and G3-placed Gotta Go.
Nyquist’s other first-crop winners include G1 Spinaway winner Vequist, who goes next in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and G1 Summer Stakes winner Gretzky the Great, who heads to the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He is the first freshman since Danzig in 1984 to have two G1-winning juveniles before the end of September.
