By Patrycja Szpyra
It looked like a close contest on paper, and in the end, the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile turned into one of those events where it deserved no loser, but there had to be one.
The juvenile champion of 2024, Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) set 'supersonic' splits early (as Larry Collmus called them at one point), and ran the race of his life, but it was stablemate Nysos (Nyquist) who ultimately played the spoiler as he nailed the photo to win the Dirt Mile in one of the closest finishes of the weekend.
The drama kicked off early when the 2023 Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day) was a late scratch about three minutes before the race was set to go. According to a tweet from the Daily Racing Form's Steve Anderson, track stewards said they scratched the grey on advise from the on-track veterinarian.
Citizen Bull was the first to step forward for the lead and rocketed through a pressured opening quarter in :21.74 and a half in :44.96 while Nysos watched it all unfold from a stalking position along the rail. The field began losing contact with the tenacious frontrunner as he shook off challengers–namely defending champion Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast) and undefeated Uruguayan sensation Touch of Destiny (Uru) (Midshipman)–through the bend. After six panels in 1:09.08 flashed across the board, the race was on as the Baffert runners locked horns for the stretch drive when the 3-5 favorite loomed into contention.
Refusing to give each other peace, they were on even terms entering the final yards, and momentarily made contact, before hitting the wire in a desperately close call. Nysos was proclaimed the winner while Citizen Bull was a heartbreaking second. Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) closed well to get up for the trifecta. The final time was 1:34.71.
“It should have been a dead heat!” said Baffert. “I knew I was going to win. Citizen Bull caught another gear and Nysos–he hadn't run in a while–he dug in and it was just unbelievable. We work so hard and there are so many ups and downs and you just want to be able to cheer for them coming down the stretch. That Citizen Bull, he looked like a champion that he was last year.”
“Nysos is a great horse. It was actually his first Grade I win; a lot of people thought he was a superstar. They were on their bellies and they ran…what a race. It's a shame that one of them had to lose.”
Juan Hernandez aboard Citizen Bull could only speak to his pride in the effort his charge gave him, saying, “You know, this one, he loves to run. He loves to run on the lead. I knew the fractions were really fast, but he tried his best, and he was trying to come back when he saw the outside horse. He did everything that I asked for and, he just left everything on the track.”
“He was trying to come back again in the last part, but it was a really late. I'm really happy with his effort. He's back again. He got a lot of confidence from his last race, and then I think he's going to get even more confidence from this race. Congrats to the winners, Bob and all the team.”
The victory here is Nysos's first at the elite-level as his only other try against Grade I company resulted in his only career loss when he dead-heated for second in the GI Churchill Downs Stakes behind Mindframe (Constitution). Granted, that May 3 appearance had been his first in a long while. He'd been a sensation in his two juvenile starts in 2023, winning by a combined margin of over 19 lengths, and started his 2024 with a stylish victory in the GIII Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February. He was gone for well over a year after that, however, when injuries made his trip back to the races a start-and-stop type of adventure.
But make it back he did, and after failing to catch Mindframe by a neck, he went right back to his winning ways May 31 in Santa Anita's GIII Triple Bend Stakes. He defeated another set of tough customers last out July 29 at this venue's summer meeting when he took home the GII San Diego Handicap. Originally, the plan had been to take his star to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, but after Baffert found Nysos with a sensitive ankle the morning of the 'WAYI' GI Pacific Classic, he was pulled from the race. The target ultimately fell onto the Dirt Mile, and the rest was history.
Nysos gave Baffert another elusive feather in his cap as this victory also functioned as the conditioner's 21st overall win in the Breeders' Cup–tying him with the venerable Aidan O'Brien.
One mile, one shot, one champion. 🏆 Nysos claims the #BreedersCup Dirt Mile in exciting fashion!
Congrats the connections!
J: Flavien Prat
T: Bob Baffert
O: Baoma Corp
B: Atkins Susie pic.twitter.com/2f4gBizaFE— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 1, 2025
Pedigree Notes:
Nysos is by far the most accomplished runner for his dam Zetta Z, but is her fourth winner from five to the races with one sibling being placed in the U.A.E during his career. His half-sister SP Attabe (Distorted Humor) has a 2025 colt by Nyquist this year while their dam has produced an unraced 3-year-old named Bernetta (Street Sense), a juvenile colt named Warnock (Yaupon), and a yearling filly by Cyberknife since Nysos hit the ground. She did not produce any offspring this season after a trip to Justify but she went back to the Triple Crown winner for 2026.
Nysos is Nyquist's fourth Grade I winner in 2025 behind Cavalieri, Velocity, and Argos. He also sired GI Preakness runner up Gosger; GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile-second Zio Jo; GI CCA Oaks-placed Immersive (also the champion juvenile filly from last year); and elite-placed Randomized, Crimson Advocate, and Litmus Test. One of his 2024 Grade I winners, Johannes, ran eighth earlier on the card in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile while juvenile Litmus Test just missed the board Friday in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Saturday, Del Mar
BREEDERS' CUP DIRT MILE-GI, $900,000, Del Mar, 11-1, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:34.71, ft.
1–NYSOS, 126, c, 4, by Nyquist
1st Dam: Zetta Z, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Seresa's Spirit, by Rahy
3rd Dam: Unbridled Elaine, by Unbridled's Song
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($130,000 Wlg '21 KEENOV; $150,000 Ylg '22 FTKOCT; $550,000 2yo '23 OBSAPR). O-Baoma Corp; B-Atkins Susie (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat. $520,000. Lifetime Record: 7-6-1-0, $1,118,500. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Citizen Bull, 123, c, 3, Into Mischief–No Joke, by Distorted Humor. ($675,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Robert Low & Lawana Low (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $170,000.
3–Chancer McPatrick, 123, c, 3, McKinzie–Bernadreamy, by Bernardini. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($260,000 Ylg '23 FTKJUL; $725,000 2yo '24 OBSAPR). O-Flanagan Racing; B-Rigney Racing, LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $90,000.
Margins: HD, 3 1/4, NK. Odds: 0.70, 5.60, 22.20.
Also Ran: Tumbarumba, Full Serrano (Arg), Goal Oriented, Will Take It, Touch of Destiny (Uru). Scratched: Mystik Dan, White Abarrio. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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