It was early in the evening on the Jersey Shore and a mud monster’s gotta eat. And so, off Exaggerator went, gobbling up sloppy furlongs like an all-you-can-eat buffet. The Preakness winner shot down Gun Runner, suppressed American Freedom, skated right past Nyquist and into the top of the 3-year-old division with this stretch surge in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday.

The strapping son of Curlin had not made a start since failing to fire in the Belmont Stakes in June but rebounded in a big way on Sunday in a race that unfolded in eerily similar fashion to the Preakness.

“They were going at it pretty well up front,” said jockey Kent Desormeaux. “I said to myself ‘could this be happening?’ Up the entire backstretch he was just galloping and gaining on them. I had to snatch him up a little bit into the far turn. I didn’t want him to go too soon.

“The two path seemed to be the best part of the track, but that spot was already taken, so I had to go outside and around horses. Once I called on him he exploded. When we got clear I just kept him to his task. He’s a really amazing horse with a devastating turn of foot.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux made it clear he intends to enter Exaggerator in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga at the end of the month.

Nyquist, meanwhile, suffered his 2nd consecutive defeat at the hooves of Exaggerator after getting the best of his west coast rival in the Kentucky Derby.

“His hands were kind of tied from the rail so we were forced to ride a little harder than we wanted to,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “I’m still proud of this guy and we will regroup, see how he comes out of it and go from there.”

Considering the inside post, the more than two month layoff and the illness following the Preakness, Nyquist put in his typically gutsy performance. Perhaps he needed this race to regain his fitness, or maybe he’s simply taken a step back from the spring as his rivals are just gearing up. Time will tell.