By Ben Massam
When champion Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) added to his monumental rise to the top of the sport with a dominant victory in the Jan. 28 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park, Noble Bird (Birdstone) and Breaking Lucky (Lookin At Lucky) failed to fire their best shots, reporting home a distant sixth and eighth, respectively. In Saturday's GII New Orleans H., the pair encounters shallower waters and an opportunity to regain top form.
John Oxley's Noble Bird is a confirmed need-the-lead type at this stage in his career, and the 6-year-old secured his preferred trip through swift fractions in the Pegasus before ultimately folding to finish 14 1/4 lengths behind Arrogate. The 2015 GI Stephen Foster H. winner will be ridden by Florent Geroux for the first time in his career Saturday and seems to hold a pace edge over many of his chief rivals.
Breaking Lucky–owned by Gunpowder Farms, West Point Thoroughbreds and partners [click here for an interview with partner Dean Reeves prior to the Pegasus]–never got involved from post 10 at Gulfstream and raced wide before fading to finish 26 lengths up the track. The chestnut receives some much-needed post position relief with a rail draw Saturday and could fire a big shot if his on/off race pattern continues. Two starts back, Breaking Lucky ran the best race of his career, finishing second behind Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and ahead of MGISW Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper) in the Nov. 25 GI Clark H.
The New Orleans also features a rematch between GIII Mineshaft H. hero Honorable Duty (Distorted Humor) and runner-up International Star (Fusaichi Pegasus), who was trip-compromised after racing in heavy traffic in the Feb. 25 race [video].
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