Opening quarter tells the tale of Nyquist in Preakness

10:17 PM ET

BALTIMORE — Live by his speed, die by his speed.

That was the game plan trainer Doug O’Neill wanted to employ for his Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist in Saturday’s $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at sloppy Pimlico.

“If we’re going to get beat, let’s get beat being aggressive and not trying to get cute and get in trouble,” O’Neill said.

Nyquist was aggressive, and he did get beat. After dueling with Uncle Lino through the fastest opening quarter in Preakness history — 22.38 seconds — Nyquist could not hold off Exaggerator, who went by him in midstretch en route to a 3½-length victory in the Preakness. Nyquist got nosed out for second by Cherry Wine.

The loss was the first in nine career starts for Nyquist, the 2015 2-year-old male champion who two weeks ago won the Kentucky Derby by 1¼ lengths over Exaggerator.

“Being 8-for-8, I kept thinking this horse is never going to lose,” O’Neill said. “They all lose one time or another, so we’ll be OK.”

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