Team Merchants took command at the top of the stretch and cruised to a sharp one-and-a-half length victory in the Let It Ride Stakes at Del Mar Nov. 4.
It was the first Stakes victory for the three-year-old Nyquist colt, who was trying the turf for just the second time in his career.
Team Merchants was settled off the pace in fourth through the early stages of the eight-furlong contest. The bay colt began his move on the far turn as swung three-wide into the clear to make run at the leaders. Team Merchants then took command at the top of the stretch and pulled away for the victory.
Team Merchants was bred in Kentucky by his owner, Reddam Racing LLC. His dam, Edwina E (by Square Eddie), is a full-sister to the multiple Stakes-placed duo of Electric Eddie and Rinse and Repeat.
The leading first crop sire of 2020, Nyquist's other Stakes winners include Eclipse Champion two-year-old filly Vequist, winner of the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; fellow G1 winner Gretzky the Great, Sovereign Award champion two-year-old; Curly Girl, winner of the Lady Fingers Stakes; Lemieux, winner of the Brethren Juvenile Stakes and Turnerloose, winner of the Aristocratic Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Nyquist's four first-crop juvenile G1 horses last year has only been matched by Bernardini, Congrats, and Capote.
