Ted Noffey draws off to remain unbeaten in Breeders’ Futurity

Spendthrift Farms’ Ted Noffey confirmed himself as the top contender for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) while stretching to two turns in Saturday’s $650,000 Breeders’ Futurity (G1), drawing away to a 2 3/4-length decision in the short stretch at Keeneland.

An odds-on favorite following a captivating 8 3/4-length win in the seven-furlong Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga, Ted Noffey improved to 3-for-3 when completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.98. Todd Pletcher trains the exciting gray colt by Into Mischief, and regular rider John Velazquez notched his fourth of five wins on the program, including a pair of graded stakes tallies.

“Everything in his training indicated to us that he wouldn’t have any issue with (two turns),” Pletcher said. “It’s always great to see them actually do it. It worked out beautifully today. He had a good trip to the first turn, got into a good rhythm, and was just kind of waiting on Johnny (Velazquez) to give him the cue. It was what we were hoping for and what we expected, but, like I said, you always want to see it.”

Along with offering a free berth to the Juvenile as part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, the Breeders’ Futurity awarded points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale to the top five finishers as a Road to the Kentucky Derby series event.

Ted Noffey has established himself as a leading early contender for the 152nd Kentucky Derby (G1) next spring, and he appears poised to compete with unbeaten Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner Brant for favoritism in the Oct. 31 Juvenile at Del Mar.

“The good thing about him is that he’s actually pretty kind,” Velazquez said. “I know he breaks pretty well out of there, let him run to the first turn, put the bit in his mouth — just kind. He answers right back to you. That’s the great thing about him. He’s not a horse that’s going to be running off. When he gets close to the horse on the lead, he wants to get a little aggressive, so I took a little hold of him so he wouldn’t go too early, but after that, he was pretty easy and agreeable, kept the head in front of him. 

“Once he opened up in the lane, he started easing up, waiting for the other horses, so I was kind of keeping him busy. Got to give it to the team (of trainer Todd Pletcher) to get him ready. They did a great job.”

Breaking from the far outside in a six-horse field, Ted Noffey stalked about a length back in second as Litmus Test sprinted forward at the break to establish opening splits :23.96 and :48.23. He began to edge forward on his own accord, rounding the far turn, and when Velazquez gave his mount the cue approaching the stretch, Ted Noffey powered to a clear advantage and rolled home.

Blackout Time, the 3-2 second choice following an Ellis Park maiden win in early August, offered a nice run for second, more than two lengths clear of 9-1 Litmus Test, who shipped in for Bob Baffert after a fourth in the Del Mar Futurity. Diclassette came next under the wire, one length better than Iroquois (G3) winner Spice Runner in fifth, and Big Dom trailed.

Bred in Kentucky by Aaron & Marie Jones, Ted Noffey was purchased for $650,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September sale. He’s the first stakes winner out of the stakes-winning Old Fashioned mare Streak of Luck.

Ted Noffey is named in honor of Ned Toffey, respected longtime general manager of Spendthrift Farm.

“Our impression from talking to Todd (Pletcher) and from what we’ve seen is that he would handle the stretch-out,” Toffey said of his namesake's first two-turn attempt. “He’s a nice-sized, scopey, leggy horse, built to like two turns. The way he ran (winning the) Hopeful would make you think he’d like two turns, but they still have to do it. We were cautiously optimistic, but you just never know until they do it, and he sure did it today.”