A month ago, Ted Noffey finished off an undefeated 2-year-old campaign with a victory in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at Del Mar.
A week ago, Further Ado followed up his astonishing 20-length victory in October at Keeneland with a 1 ¾-lengh win in the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs to end his 2-year-old campaign.
Ted Noffey is a sure bet to be voted the Eclipse Award next month as the champion 2-year-old male and is the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 1.
Further Ado may have lost his first two races sprinting, but running farther around two turns seems to fit much better, and a run at the 1¼-mile Derby is certainly in the cards.
All this is great news for Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, which has been breeding and racing horses since 1937. Spendthrift has a Derby victory on its resume, as co-owner of 2020 winner Authentic, now a stallion at the farm.
As the Derby season continues in its early stages, Ted Noffey and Further Ado couldn’t be in better hands – in training or at the races.
Ted Noffey, named for a misspelling of Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey, is trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, a three-time Derby winner, has been aboard for all four of Ted Noffey’s wins.
Further Ado is in the hands of trainer Brad Cox, a two-time Eclipse Award winner who has a 2021 Derby victory with Mandaloun via disqualification of first-place finisher Medina Spirit. The nation’s leading rider, Irad Ortiz, Jr., has been aboard Further Ado’s two victories.
Both trainers are feeling pretty good about their well-bred colts. Ted Noffey is a son of Into Mischief, who stands at stud at Spendthrift for $250,000, and Further Ado is a son of Gun Runner, who also stands for $250,000 at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky. They are two of the top three stallions in North America.
“Obviously, if you’re trying to get to the Derby, it’s important to perform well at Churchill,’’ Cox said after the Kentucky Jockey Club. “We’re excited about him, how he can handle the two-turn distance and more.”
There’s no word yet on when or where Further Ado will open his 3-year-old campaign, but it’s a good bet he’ll show up at the Fair Grounds or Oaklawn Park. Why? Because Ted Noffey is at Pletcher's training center in Ocala, Florida, and being pointed to the Florida road to the Kentucky Derby, perhaps starting with the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 31 or the Fountain of Youth (G2) on Feb. 28.
“He’s had pretty much a 2-year-old season as good as you could put together,’’ Pletcher said of Ted Noffey’s 4-0 record, which also includes wins in the Hopeful Stakes (G1) and the Breeders’ Futurity (G1). “Going from his debut to three Grade 1 wins, culminating with the Breeders’ Cup. He handled everything we asked him to -- step up in class, stretch out in distance, and ship across the country. You can’t say enough good things about him.”
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For now, with seven of 36 Kentucky Derby qualifying races in the books, Ted Noffey is first on the leaderboard with 40 points (likely already enough to qualify for the Derby), with Further Ado at 10 points after his win in the Kentucky Jockey Club.
Stay tuned to US Racing. The road to the Derby is in the early stages, and with the point distributions increasing every month in the preps, there’s bound to be a few more rising stars as Kentucky Derby fever is well underway.
Richard Rosenblatt is an award-winning journalist and former Associated Press Horse Racing Editor. Currently, he serves as the news editor at US Racing, overseeing exclusive content from contributors worldwide.
