Pletcher ranks Ted Noffey with Uncle Mo, Fierceness, Forte

Delray Beach, Fla.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is excited about what undefeated 2-year-old champion Ted Noffey has done and what he can do as he works toward his highly anticipated debut in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park Feb. 28.

“Like everyone else, we need everything to go perfect leading up to the first Saturday in May,” Pletcher  said.

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Pletcher’s first three 2-year-old champions never reached the Derby starting gate. The brilliant Uncle Mo developed a rare liver condition and had to be scratched in 2011. Shanghai Bobby was removed from the Derby trail in 2013 after a lackluster fifth-place finish in the Florida Derby and raced only once more. Favored Forte was scratched the morning of the 2023 Derby with a bruised right front foot.

Two years ago, Fierceness made the opening leg of the Triple Crown only to finish a perplexing 15th.

Pletcher said Spendthrift Farm’s Ted Noffey compares “favorably” to that immensely talented yet star-crossed group. “His 2-year-old campaign stacks up historically with the best,” he said.

Pletcher added, “You can’t really have a better campaign than that, three consecutive Grade 1’s in three different states, shipping to California, which is a tough road game. It was an awfully impressive campaign.”

That it was. The gray son of Into Mischief showed more with every start after a winning debut on Aug. 2 at Saratoga. He stepped up to Grade 1 company with ease, dominating the seven-furlong Hopeful by 8 1/2 lengths at Saratoga.

He aced his first two-turn test with a 2 3/4-length score in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) on Oct. 4 at Keeneland. He displayed uncommon professionalism for his age in sitting just off the lead in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for regular rider John Velazquez before pouncing for a one-length triumph at Del Mar to become the barn’s third 2-year-old champion in the last four years.

Pletcher said in comparing Ted Noffey to his other 2-year-old champions, “He has that in common that he’s physically and mentally mature. He was sort of touting himself in late May, early June. He was training like one of our best at that time and continued to get better.”

Unlike Pletcher’s 2-year-old champions, Derby winners Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017) were projects who peaked at the ideal time. Super Saver finished third in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and second in the Arkansas Derby (G1) in his two Derby preps.

“Super Saver, like nothing went according to plan all winter and then he had the best three weeks of his career from the Arkansas Derby to the Kentucky Derby,” Pletcher recalled.

Always Dreaming did not break his maiden until he turned 3, then won an optional-claiming allowance race before he made a successful leap into Grade 1 company in the Florida Derby, prevailing by five lengths. Then it was a matter of keeping him at that level.

“He was absolutely perfect all winter and went to Churchill and changed personalities, became super aggressive. We were kind of on pins and needles the last week trying to keep him from crawling out of his skin,” the trainer remembered.

As good as everything is now with Ted Noffey, Pletcher knows his story could go the way of his other 2-year-old champions. Wrenching turns may be ahead.

“Everything is different,” he said, “and you’ve got to be ready to make adjustments when needed.”