Ted Noffey made a name for himself with a sparkling 8 1/2-length victory in the $300,000 Hopeful S. (G1) at Saratoga on Monday, Sept. 1. Named for a misspelling of Spendthrift Farm’s general manager Ned Toffey, Ted Noffey is trained by Todd Pletcher and was ridden by John Velazquez.
“The Hopeful is such a prestigious and important race. To be able to win a Grade 1 with a son of Into Mischief and win it for Spendthrift, who sponsored the race, is phenomenal,” said Pletcher. The trainer’s previous Hopeful wins include Circular Quay [2006], Shanghai Bobby [2012], Competitive Edge [2014] and Forte [2022].
“The 2-year-olds have run really well, so we’re super excited about it and very thankful,” Pletcher added. “[Ted Noffey] really trained well since his debut. He trained well going into that but came back and I thought his breezes were quite good. He gave us the feeling he was moving forward.”
Ted Noffey broke sharply from the outside. He settled into a stalking second position to the outside of Flyin Hawaiian as Soldier N Diplomat led through an opening quarter-mile in 23.16 seconds. Midway through the turn, Ted Noffey glided past Soldier N Diplomat with no urging from Velazquez. With a few taps of the crop from Velazquez, he went clear and drew off to win impressively in a final time of 1:22.35.
Ted Noffey Faster Than his Namesake
Ned Toffey said to make no mistake about it, Ted Noffey showed he is a serious talent.
“My first goal was just let him be faster than me and he’s definitely accomplished that. He’s really a nice horse,” said Toffey. “That was really impressive today. I thought that was a really good bunch of horses and he left no doubt. That was really impressive.”
Pletcher indicated a possible next start for his charge could come around two turns in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 4 at Keeneland.
Bred in Kentucky by Aaron and Marie Jones, the Hopeful winner is out of the dual graded stakes-placed Old Fashioned mare Streak of Luck. He was a $650,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.