The undefeated Ted Noffey. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
Future Stars Friday: FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
Breeders’ Cup Release
DEL MAR, Calif. – Spendthrift Farm’s Ted Noffey ($3.60) lived up to his heavily backed favoritism by posting a 1-length victory over Mr. A.P. to win the 42nd running of the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) Friday afternoon at Del Mar for 2-year-olds.
Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, Ted Noffey covered the mile and a sixteenth over a fast track in 1:42.25. The victory is the 16th overall for Pletcher and fifth in the Juvenile and for Velazquez it is his 22nd World Championships victory and third in the Juvenile, all on Pletcher-trained horses.
The race figured to be a two-horse duel between undefeated Ted Noffey and the undefeated Brant and that is how it played out early on. Brant led the field of six through fractions of :23.46, :46.99 and 1:10.82 with Ted Noffey tracking just to his outside.
Approaching the head of the stretch, Ted Noffey drew on even terms and then pushed past in upper stretch only to have Brant battle back in the final eighth. In deep stretch, Ted Noffey put Brant away as Mr. A.P., who had been third all the way around, got past Brant to get second by a half-length.
Brant held third by a neck over stablemate Litmus Test with Intrepido and Comport completing the order of finish.
Ted Noffey is a Kentucky-bred son of Into Mischief out of the Old Fashioned mare Streak of Luck. Now a three-time Grade 1 winner from four starts, the victory was worth $1,040,000 and increased his earnings to $1,658,763.
Quotes:
Winning trainer Todd Pletcher (Ted Noffey) – “It pretty much unfolded like we thought it would. Just glad that he was able to keep finding more.”
Brant put him to the test: “He fought back. I thought for a second like, ‘Oh man.’ But when they came to him, he kind of got serious again.”
Winning jockey John Velazquez (Ted Noffey) – “Broke well, got my hands pretty loose on him, I didn’t take a hold of him. The horse in front was the horse to beat. He (Ted Noffey) made it easy for me.
“I was very confident. The only thing he did a little bit was he idled really bad at the eighth pole, getting to that shadow between the building, and he kind of waited. After that, he passed the shadow, and the two horses came in and he went back in and re-engaged again.
“He’s an easy horse to ride, really, that’s it. Just let him do his thing and he’s happy, as he’s done every single race.”
Second-place trainer Vladimir Cerin (Mr. A.P.) – “Looks like he came back great. I watched all the races all day long and no matter how fast they went, speed held. Very few horses came from just a little off the pace. I was very happy with the way he closed. I think he has room to improve. I like his running style. He can stay close to the pace but doesn’t have to be on the lead and he kicked turning for home so I’m very proud of him.”
Second-place jockey Antonio Fresu (Mr. A.P.) – “A short field is going to get very tactical. I had the speed even to go to the lead but that’s not what we wanted to do, because I know if I go to the lead I get so much pressure, and I would have finished the same. We sat right behind Brant and Ted Noffey because those are the two horses to beat. I had the perfect trip. I rode the rail the whole way. When I saw the opportunity to put him in the clear, I did and the horse responded really nicely, but as soon as I got to three-quarters of a length to Ted Noffey, I think he saw me coming and he kind of re-engaged again. I mean, that’s a very good horse, but I think our horse is still ‘in the making’ and just getting better and better.”
Third-place and Fourth-place trainer Bob Baffert (Brant and Litmus Test) – “I was happy with the trip, he just got tired. The lack of two turns caught up with him. He was beat by a real good horse, and they ran really fast. I think he will move way up off this race. (Ted Noffey) is a big, good looking horse and Todd had him ready. He looked great in the paddock. Todd is just so tough in these races.
On Limus Test: “It was a little short for him. He was starting to run, and I liked that he sat there in a good spot. It is pretty speedy today and he was creeping up there at the end.”
Third-place jockey Flavien Prat (Brant) – “Honestly, he ran his race. I honestly felt like Johnny (Velazquez – on Ted Noffey) was in control of me. I never felt like I could get away from him. Then he went by, and it’s looks like I’m coming back but I think that was kind of Ted Noffey idling in front. It looks like I was going to come back, but honestly, I thought it was an honest race and no excuses.”
Fourth-place jockey Jose Ortiz (Litmus Test) – “He ran pretty well. It was a fair race, and we were where we wanted to be. He ran well down the stretch and should be good going forward.”
