It was almost expected that as soon as Nyquist had won the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby, some so-called experts were declaring he would be a second consecutive Triple Crown winner.
Nyquist's victory was impressive.
His winning time of 2:01.31 was the Derby's 13th fastest, and almost two full seconds faster than American Pharoah, who did win the Triple Crown last year to break the 37-year drought.
But it is a long way from Louisville to the winner's circle at Belmont Park.
As expected, Danzing Candy didn't care he was breaking from the 20th post position and hurried out and moved to the rail under jockey Mike Smith so the one-trick pony could be on the lead.
His dazzling fractions (22.58, 45.72 and 1:10.40) had him in the lead for 6 furlongs, but the Derby, along with the rest of the Triple Crown, is a two-turn route race, and Danzing Candy went from first to 15th.
Right on his heels, never relenting, were Nyquist and Gun Runner.
Gun Runner has zero excuses. He just wasn't good enough to beat the favorite. Gun Runner actually took the lead for about 20 steps with a quarter mile to run, but Nyquist blew his doors off and romped down the stretch to remain undefeated.
Exaggerator, the clear second betting choice, was closing ground, but it was the fourth time he has lost to Nyquist. He didn't have a great trip, but jockey Kent Desormeaux made the smart decision to get on the rail and save some ground for the stretch run.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one with that idea. Desormeaux had to go wide to pass several tiring horses, but he was flying at the end.
The horse with perhaps the most troubled trip was Suddenbreakingnews, winner of Oaklawn's Southwest Stakes.
Suddenbreakingnews would never have been close to the early pace, he's a closer, so when he got slobber-knocked after just 100 yards it could have taken some fight out of him.
It didn't. About the time Gun Runner overtook Danzing Candy, jockey Luis Quinonez was shifting his mount down on the rail, but he was 17th, 16 lengths back, with a quarter mile to go.
Then Suddenbreakingnews, trained by Donnie K. Von Hemel, started eating up the yards, not far behind Exaggerator.
Suddenbreakingnews finished fifth, but if he hadn't been trapped behind horses most of the way, it is fair to say it would have beaten Gun Runner for third.
Creator, winner of the Arkansas Derby, had traffic issues, as well, and Whitmore simply didn't fire, which happens to horses a lot, which is why there are very few undefeated horses.
Nyquist is now settled in Baltimore awaiting the second round of the Triple Crown, the Preakness, and while it won't be known until next week exactly how many challengers he'll have, there is no doubt a few who had trouble last Saturday will skip this leg and take aim on the third and final leg in New York.
It doesn't seem fair, but running three major races in five weeks is the way it is, and American Pharoah, who got his bad race out of the way when he won the Kentucky Derby, proved it can still be done.
It should not be surprising if trainer Steve Asmussen decides to rest Creator, and or Gun Runner, who had his shot and couldn't win. Asmussen indicated both would be ready for the next challenge.
The best horse won Saturday. He met the blazing fractions and came away strong.
He's won eight times in eight tries, at four different tracks and banked almost $5 million.
No doubt breeding farms are calling owner J. Paul Reddam about buying Nyquist's stud rights.
Nyquist could bring interest to thoroughbred racing, but don't call him a Triple Crown winner just yet.
Sports on 05/10/2016