For the second time in as many weeks, a leading California-based thoroughbred has been retired.
Nysos, who would have been favored in the $1-million Pacific Classic later this month at Del Mar and was a top early contender for the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic this fall, won’t race again, Coolmore America announced Monday.
The 5-year-old son of Nyquist is headed to stallion duty next year at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., the same farm where Journalism, another horse who was being pointed for those two races, was sent last month after his retirement because of injury.
In a statement, Coolmore said Nysos is sound and uninjured but “the decision was made following a routine diagnostic evaluation that revealed subtle imaging changes on a scan.” Trainer Bob Baffert and Nysos’ owners, Baoma Corp. and Coolmore, “unanimously agreed to take a strict precautionary approach, prioritizing the horse’s long-term health and safety above all else.”
Said Baffert: “Nysos is not hurt or injured, but taking a precautionary approach is strictly about doing what is right for the horse. With the minor changes shown on the evaluation, we simply don’t have the time needed to prepare him for the Breeders’ Cup the way we would want to. He has given us everything and retiring him completely sound and at the top of his game is the proper decision.”
Nysos retires after eight wins and two seconds in 10 lifetime races, with earnings of nearly $5.3 million. He was considered a top prospect for the 2024 Kentucky Derby but was injured that winter and didn’t race again for 15 months.
He returned in May 2025 and won four of five starts last year, including the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar. This year Nysos finished second to Forever Young in the Saudi Cup before defeating Journalism in the Met Mile in June at Saratoga, which turned out to be his last race.
Whether Mira Costa has the best high school volleyball team in America is open to debate, but the Mustangs left little doubt they are No. 1 in the Southern Section on Friday night, sweeping Loyola 25-21, 25-22, 25-22 at Cerritos College to repeat as Division 1 champions.
UCLA-bound Mateo Fuerbringer was ready from the start, ending Loyola’s first three rallies with thunderous kills and the fourth with an emphatic stuff block. Ten points into the match, the 6-foot-4 junior hitter already had five kills and he ended the first set with his 12th as Mira Costa was ahead from start to finish.
“He’s always had the IQ, now you add the power on top of that?” Mira Costa coach Greg Snyder said of his star. “There are no answers. It’s a deadly combination. Mateo has no weaknesses.”
The teams traded leads throughout the second set until the Mustangs created separation late on the serving of Fuerbringer and Enzo Barker before Loyola’s Pax Stetson served into the twine to put Mira Costa up two sets to none.
The third-seeded Cubs took a 17-11 lead in the third set, but Mira Costa got in front 20-19 on Barker’s ace and Fuerbringer sent the green-and-white clad fans into delirium with his right-side smash on match point. He finished with 27 kills while Barker and UC Santa Barbara commit Wyatt Davis each added six. Mater Dei transfer Jake Newman had 38 assists and Dane Del Riego had 15 digs.
Loyola’s Brendan Maffel flings the ball past Mira Costa blocker Miles Crotty during the Southern Section Division 1 boys’ volleyball championship on Friday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“I always try to set the tone and Jake gave me great sets,” Fuerbringer said. “They were bombing serves in that third set and got up on us, but we stuck with it and closed it strong. We didn’t want to give them any momentum.”
Mira Costa won its 10th section title and improved to 10-8 in finals. It also won back-to-back titles for the second time in school history, the first coming in Division 2 in 2001 and 2002. Mira Costa is 2-3 in finals against Loyola, having fallen to the Cubs in four sets in 2005 and 2010, prevailing in five sets in 2012 and getting swept in 2024.
Mira Costa has won 10 straight matches (dropping only three sets) since its five-set defeat at Bay League rival Redondo Union on March 26. It avenged that loss in four sets April 20 to earn the top seed.
The teams were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country when they faced off in a nonleague match March 21 in Manhattan Beach, where the Mustangs rallied from a two-set deficit to win 15-11 in the fifth in a two-and-a-half-hour marathon. That time, Fuerbringer had 37 kills.
“The first time we didn’t come out as strong,” he said. “This time we were ready to play and came out hot.”
In the semifinals six days earlier, Loyola upset No. 2 Redondo Union in five sets, avenging a close loss in the Redondo Varsity Classic final on April 18. Mira Costa swept No. 4 Huntington Beach — its third victory over the Oilers this season.
Mira Costa won the inaugural Division I state championship last spring and will begin its quest for a repeat Tuesday night (regional seedings will be released Sunday afternoon). If it runs the table, Mira Costa would equal its 37-2 record in 2025.
Pepperdine commit JP Wardy had 13 kills and Rafa Milchan added 12 for the Cubs (23-4), but senior captain Blake Fahlbusch, who is headed to USC, was held to nine. Libero Matt Kelly, a Loyola Chicago commit, had 12 digs.
“We know where everyone wants to swing and we know Blake’s their catalyst,” Snyder said. “When they need a kill they usually go to him.”
The teams did not meet in the postseason last year. Mira Costa defeated Huntington Beach to win the section and regional crowns while Loyola fell to the Oilers in the section semifinals and did not play in regionals.
Snyder has guided the Mustangs into the finals in each of his three seasons, winning the last two. He was with the program for 12 years prior, seven as a varsity assistant under Avery Drost.
Loyola’s JP Wardy gets blocked by Mira Costa’s Miles Crotty and Colby Graham during the Mustangs’ win Friday night.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Loyola, making its 19th appearance in a section final, dropped to 13-6 all-time and 7-6 in 28 seasons under 1984 Cubs alum Michael Boehle.
In the preceding Division 4 final, Sunny Hills beat Royal, 24-26, 25-22, 27-25, 25-23 for its second title since coach Albert Soliguen started the program in 2020.
Owen Filadelfia had 18 kills and eight digs, Christian Lee added 17 kills and 11 digs, Jacob Sueki had 16 digs and Parker Mesnik dished out 47 assists for the Lancers (21-14), who swept Carpinteria in the Division 5 final in 2022 at Long Beach City College.
Grant Herzer had 19 kills, Donald Fleming had 18 and each added nine digs for the Highlanders (16-11), who were seeking their sixth section title in their 11th trip to the finals, having won Division 2-A in 1989 and 1990, 3-A in 1992, Division II in 1994 and Division 3 in 2022.
