Although it had been over nearly five months since her last start, trainer Brendan Walsh had indicated to owner John Dewberry that his three-year-old Nyquist filly, Princess Theorem, was doing better than ever prior to her start in the Listed Van Clief Stakes at Colonial Downs on August 9th. Well, she certainly proved her conditioner correct as she scored impressively for her first career Stakes win in the one and one-sixteenth mile event.
At the start of the Van Clief, Princess Theorem broke alertly from the outside and then settled in towards the back of the pack through the first quarter mile. She maintained that position until the field passed the half-mile pole and then started her run as the field approached the final turn. Although going five wide as the field entered the stretch, Princess Theorem shot past the front runners and finished well to win by two and one-half lengths.
Princess Theorem was bred in Kentucky by Barry and Judith Backer. She is out of G2 winner and G1-placed Princess Haya who is also the dam of Listed winner/G1-placed Lady Kate (by deceased Darley sire Bernardini) and multiple Graded-placed Prince of Arabia.
The leading first crop sire of 2020, Nyquist's other Stakes winners include 2020 Eclipse Champion two-year-old filly Vequist, winner of the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, as well as 2020 Sovereign Award-winning two-year-old colt Gretzky the Great, winner of the G1 Summer Stakes. Nyquist's four first-crop juvenile G1 horses last year has only ever been matched by Bernardini, Congrats, and Capote.
