Though six-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert didn’t have the best start to his year, given Journalism and Sovereignty were taking charge of the Triple Crown races, not allowing any of Baffert’s horses at the time, like Rodriguez and Citizen Bull, to claim any space for themselves. That story seemed to change once Nysos came into the picture, though. Baffert’s four-year-old colt and son of Nyquist changed the trainer’s story for 2025 with the San Diego Handicap, a grade 2 race where he won $300,000!

And, things don’t seem to have stopped there. Considering Nysos hasn’t yet won a grade 1 race, it seems likely that Baffert may enter him into the upcoming G1 Pacific Classic Stakes, where he could face off against Journalism, and even the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, where he may even have a chance to face off against Sovereignty and Journalism both, to rectify Baffert’s losses from the earlier part of the year. And things are looking quite possible, considering recent happenings at a training session.

In a recent training session at Del Mar, Nysos managed to cover 5 furlongs in 58.80, significantly (in horse racing terms) under an hour, which is always impressive! This speed translates to an average of 38.25 mph. Considering Nysos has finished on the podium in all six races he’s entered, winning five, the 4-year-old looks like he’s shaping up to be Baffert’s weapon against the dominance of Journalism and Sovereignty.

And considering that on May 3rd Sovereignty covered the distance of five furlongs in the Run for Roses race in 1:02.54, it doesn’t seem too unlikely that Nysos may actually stand a chance against the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes champion of the year. Fans clearly have some thoughts about the same!

Fans react to Bob Baffert’s horse Nysos’ recent time in five furlongs

“Wow! ….This guys is looking really healthy and happy. Loved when he switched leads and just skipped along effortlessly up the stretch,” one fan said of Nysos’ technique in the video shared of the training session at Del Mar.

Another fan was also visibly impressed by the colt’s speed along the course, writing, “This is one of the most impressive workouts I’ve ever seen from Nysos. It was like “wow”. The truth is, if you watch the whole video, the horse shows no signs of tiring or slowing down, so ‘like, wow’ is a fair observation.

“Baffert has a lot of talent in his barn! Nysos has only lost once, and that was in the mud & off a long layoff Cant wait to see Nysos vs Journalism in the Pacific Classic!” Another fan is already looking forward to the much-awaited showdown between Nysos and Preakness Stakes winner Journalism, also taking note of the fact that Baffert has a bunch of two-year-old colts who are doing really well at the moment.

“Quite the horse, might be nicer than mindframe” Another fan made the observation that Nysos might even be better than Mindframe, Todd Pletcher’s trainee, who won the G1 Churchill Downs Stakes—handing Nysos his first loss—and the G1 Stephen Foster Stakes this year. Mindframe already has two G1 race victories to his name while Nysos is still on the hunt for his first.

Perhaps that’s why there was that one fan who wasn’t a full-on believer, writing, “Journalism definitely will duck this dude in the Pacific Classic! Gotta find the right spot for the (gorilla emoji)” Nonetheless, fans will hopefully soon get to see what exactly Nysos is made of if he competes at his second Grade 1 race at this month’s Pacific Classic and tests his mettle against Journalism.