Get To Know The "Bird" -- Noble Bird

With my positions at NBC, TVG and Fashion at the Races, I’m lucky enough to get up close and personal with some of the biggest stars in horse racing. For me, and many others out there, the feeling of meeting these horses is a lot like meeting your favorite celebrities. However, due to the nature of the sport, many fans never get to meet these equine athletes. In my new blog, Horsenalities, I hope to connect fans with their favorite horses on a more personal level. I’ve made it my mission to get the inside scoop, straight from the horse’s mouth… well, almost.

If you tuned in to watch the NBC Sports broadcast of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series on June 13th, 2015, you might have taken notice of a brown colt who dazzled under the lights at Churchill Downs. Noble Bird, the 9-2 winner of the Stephen Foster Handicap, and the first to qualify for the Breeders' Cup Classic, runs for trainer Mark E. Casse. He is a 4-year-old colt who was born April 6, 2011 out of Anyhow and sired by Birdstone. He's made just 10 starts so far, finishing either first or second in 7 of them.

To get to know our potential Breeders' Cup Classic contender, I called Norm Casse, who has trained Noble Bird, to ask a few questions about his Horsenality.

What would you say his personality is like?

On the track, we need someone really strong to gallop him because he can be very aggressive and really takes a hold. The funny thing about him at the barn is that he’s really laid back. It’s nothing to be concerned about, because he does it all the time, but 90% of the time if you walk by his stall he’s laying down. He likes to sleep… a lot!

Do you have a nickname for Noble Bird?

We just call him Bird.

Does he have any quirks or habits?

Like a lot of our horses, he loves attention and treats. He likes to stick his tongue out, too.

Are mints his favorite treat?

Oh yeah. He loves mints!

Does he have a best friend in the barn?

He lives right next to the stable pony, Chumlee (who is named after the character from the TV show, Pawn Stars), so he gets more attention than most of the other horses because people come in to say “Hi” to Chumlee. Although, I think he wants to become friendlier with Tepin, who lives two stalls down. She’s a really nice Grade I filly. I’m sure he would like to get to know her a little better… (bow chicka wow wow)

Do you have a favorite memory with him, either on or off the track?

Churchill Downs is my favorite racetrack, so to win a Grade I there, in a race like the Stephen Foster, that's my favorite memory with him.

Take me through your thoughts during the Stephen Foster:

I was very happy with his trip and at the half-mile pole I knew that we were going to win. It was a weird feeling because for about a month he had been breezing really well and I seriously thought that he was going to win the Stephen Foster Handicap. For him to actually do it was very rewarding. It was just surreal.

Did he come out of the race okay?

Yes. He looks good. Wednesday was actually his first day back galloping. We gave him a week of jogging, but he looked really good that morning.

What was the moment that you thought he was a “big” horse?

Well, we’ve always thought that he was super talented. We truthfully believe he cost himself the race in the Alysheba Stakes, and that was a very competitive field. Although he didn't win, he looked really strong that day and we kind of decided then that he was a serious racehorse for us.

Throwing out just a few of his races, he’s either won or ran second by less than a length in his other starts. Would you say he’s a very competitive horse?

He’s kind of tricky to ride and train. When he makes the lead, he waits for the other horses. If you watch the Alysheba Stakes, Shaun Bridgmohan does everything he can to not make the lead too early because he knows that Bird pulls himself up. He did that in the Stephen Foster; he still waited on Lea a little bit. We really haven’t seen how good he is because he waits on the other horses.

Because he’s quirky, have you been training him differently than some of your other horses?

Yeah. Typically, I try to match up horses that are similar in abilities and talent so they can push each other to work as good as possible. With Bird, I work him with a horse that’s not as good so he can go by and open up on him. He’s obviously very fit, now we’re just trying to train him tactically. He’s just quirky, so that’s what we’re working on right now.

Do you think that you’re going to continue to train him like that leading up to the Breeders’ Cup? What’s you plan for his next race?

Well, I don't know about for the Breeders’ Cup. But for his next start, the Whitney Handicap, I would like to continue to do that. For Breeders’ Cup, we’ll have to get him to relax a little more. But we’re not going to worry about that. We’re just going to take it one race at a time.

To California and back, he’s got quite a few Frequent Flyer miles already. Does he travel well?

Yeah, he goes all over the place. We’ll go to Saratoga soon. Saratoga is kind of quirky, and has a really big home court advantage. That will play against him a little bit but he’s about as good as he can be right now. So at least he’ll be there and get two or three works over the main track at Saratoga and should be as good as possible going into the Whitney!

You didn’t switch him to dirt until his sixth start. Why the change? Was the plan always to move to dirt?

It was really just circumstantial. They were really high on Bird when he was based in Ocala, Florida, just getting ready for the races. His initial start was actually against Open Allowance horses; which is really unconventional. But, that’s how much Dad liked him. He didn't run well that day but he showed promise. Circumstances afterward just dictated that he was on the turf and the polytrack until we went to the dirt at Oaklawn. And, when he won the Allowance race at Keeneland, he beat some really good horses. So, it’s not like he’s beating bad horses and looking good. He’s actually running against some pretty talented horses and showing off a little bit!

How long has Noble Bird been a part of Team Casse?

Dad picked him out and bought him, so he’s been with us since then. That’s the cool thing about our company, when we purchase them, until they retire or get claimed, they stay with us. If a horse needs to be laid up, they go back to our farm. We break all the horses ourselves, too. So, when they join our company, they stay with us until the end. So we’ve had Bird from Day 1.

As Kentucky is home for you, what would it mean to have a Breeders’ Cup win with this horse at Keeneland this fall?

We’ve yet to cross that line to win a Breeders’ Cup race, so any type of Breeders’ Cup victory for our company would be incredible. The owners of Noble Bird, Mr. & Mrs. Oxley, who put all of their faith in us, are like a fantasy to train for. To put it, like you said, basically at our home in Kentucky, at Keeneland, there wouldn't be - you couldn't write a better scenario for us as far as I’m concerned.

And we won’t even talk about who he might potentially have to beat…