Noble Indy is moved from Puerto Rico to Old Friends in Ky.
Noble Indy, an 8-year-old bay gelding who won the 2018 Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, arrived Thursday for his retirement at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement facility in Georgetown, Ky.
The 8-year old bay gelding, who ran in the 2018 Kentucky Derby, was repatriated from Puerto Rico thanks to the efforts of Fred Hart, Kelley Stobie and Mike Repole.
Hart became a big fan of Noble Indy through his ownership of the horse’s dam Noble Maz, a Storm Boot mare. Stobie, the owner of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare, has assisted in helping many Thoroughbreds in Puerto Rico. Repole, Noble Indy’s original owner, paid to transport the horse home to the U.S. and to Old Friends.
Bred by WinStar Farm, Noble Indy is by Take Charge Indy and was foaled in Kentucky on March 31, 2015.
Originally trained by Todd Pletcher for owner WinStar Farm, Noble Indy began his racing career in 2017 as 2-year old and won his first start in a maiden special-weight race that December at Gulfstream Park. He came back in 2018 as a 3-year old and won his first start of the year in an allowance optional-claiming race at Gulfstream.
Following a third-place finish in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds, Noble Indy scored a graded-stakes victory in the Louisiana Derby. That win punched his ticket to the 2018 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, where he finished 17th.
The once-promising Thoroughbred never was able to recapture his pre-Derby form and began to drop down the racing ranks. In 2019 as a 4-year old, Noble Indy won only once. It came in his seventh start in an allowance optional-claiming race at Belmont Park. At the time Pletcher still was training him for Repole.
In 2020 as a 5-year old, Noble Indy opened the year with a win in an allowance optional-claiming race at Gulfstream, his only victory of the year. Then as a 6-year old in 2021, he won a claiming race at Gulfstream and was bought by trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. for owner Ken Copenhaver for $35,000.
Noble Indy raced five times for Copenhaver and Joseph that year and once in 2022 as a 7-year old, never winning. That one start in 2022 was in a claiming race at Gulfstream, where he finished third and was bought by trainer Gustavo Delgado for OGMA Investments.
After an 11th-place result in the black-type Mr. Steele Stakes at Gulfstream on May 21, 2022, Noble Indy was shipped to Puerto Rico. There he ran at Camarero in three races in 2022 with a best finish of second in an allowance race. He had two more races there in 2023 with a best finish of third in another allowance race, still under the care of Delgado but a new owner, Skull Stable PR.
That was when Hart got involved and wanted to retire Noble Indy. He told Thoroughbred Daily News, “I became sentimentally attached to this horse and was afraid harm would come to him if he stayed in Puerto Rico. I just wanted to get him out of there.”
Hart contacted Stobie, and the two worked together to try and retire the horse. The problem they ran into was Skull Stable PR was asking too much for the horse. Following an injury to Noble Indy, Skull Stable PR finally lowered the price, and the gelding was retired and sent to Stobie’s farm.
“It was a tense time since Indy came to Puerto Rico knowing if we would be able to get him off the island in one piece,” Stobie said. “Thankfully his surgery back in February of this year did not go as planned, so he could no longer race, and the owner agreed to retire him to (Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare). We are grateful to Repole Stable for their generous donation, which did not only help Noble Indy but will pay for two other horses in need to get home. Also, thank you to WinStar Farm for stepping up and sending a donation.”
“We are all very excited that Noble Indy will spend the rest of his life at Old Friends in Kentucky,” Repole said. “This was an amazing team effort by so many to bring Noble Indy back from Puerto Rico and to give him the great retirement that he deserves.”
“Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to allow us to enjoy Noble Indy’s retirement,” said Michael Blowen, President and founder of Old Friends. “His story will make him a magnet for racing fans. Come visit.”