Trainers taking risk by running unbeatens Nyquist, Mohaymen in Florida Derby

As we inch closer to the 142nd Kentucky Derby, each prep race gains in importance. Most trainers will seek the path of least resistance. They don’t like to overtax their horse before May 7 at Churchill Downs.

But one trainer, Doug O’Neill, has taken the opposite tact. He has shipped his champion colt, Nyquist, from Southern California to South Florida to face Mohaymen in the Florida Derby on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

It’s rare to get a classic East versus West battle of two top undefeated 3-year-olds before the Kentucky Derby. But neither side has blinked. Both camps think the five weeks between the Florida and Kentucky derbies is enough time to recover, no matter how bruising the fight might be.

Still, it’s a risky proposition. I think back to a Derby prep at which two leading colts — Cure the Blues and Proud Appeal — ran a near match race in the 1981 Gotham at Aqueduct. It was such a punishing race won by Proud Appeal by a head that neither colt was the same after that.

Nyquist (6-5) drew Post 4 in the field of 10. The three horses inside of him have no early speed. I expect jockey Mario Gutierrez to use his colt’s California speed to go right to the front.

Mohaymen (1-1) drew Post 9, and his best trip might be to stalk the pace under Junior Alvarado. This has been a push-button colt in the fact he runs relaxed early but has an explosive late kick.

One of the keys to the race might be Takeittotheedge (20-1). He won his career debut in a fast-run sprint. Now, as a sprinter stretching out around two turns for the first time, he possesses enough early speed to challenge Nyquist for the lead.

His jockey, Tyler Gaffalione, and his trainer, Dale Romans, must decide on their best strategy. A suicide duel could get both horses beat. And in only his second career start, you don’t want to ruin a promising colt, either.

The public loves undefeated horses. Nyquist has won all six of his races, and Mohaymen is unbeaten in five starts. A big race by both horses could distance them beyond the other 3-year-olds.

Racing lore is full of Triple Crown rivalries such as Affirmed and Alydar or Easy Goer and Sunday Silence. If Nyquist and Mohaymen could give us half as much excitement as those horses, we could enjoy a rich and rewarding spring watching them.

■ SPIRAL STAKES — A second key Derby prep Saturday will be the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park. A lot of pundits downgrade the Spiral because it is run over a synthetic surface, but as recently as 2011, Animal Kingdom won the Spiral and then the Kentucky Derby for trainer Graham Motion.

The big favorite is Airoforce (3-1), who has run three races fast enough to beat this group. You need to forgive a horrible last race in the Risen Star, and apparently his trainer, Mark Casse, has.

The best chance to upset Airoforce comes from Kasseopia (6-1), trained by Motion. Motion is clearly hoping for history to repeat itself at Turfway and then Churchill Downs.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. You can get his Santa Anita picks by emailing him at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick