By Bill Finley
Eclipse Award winner Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), who was taken off the GI Kentucky Derby trail in January after being diagnosed with bone bruising, returned to the work tab Monday morning at Saratoga, where he breezed three furlongs in :38.27 seconds.
Owned by Spendthrift Farm, Ted Noffey was having his first wok since he clinched the 2-year-old male championship with a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
“He got up here a little over a week ago,” said Spendthrift COO and General Manager Ned Toffey. “He had been galloping very smoothly and we have been very happy with everything. Todd (Pletcher) let him stretch his legs a little bit this morning. It was just an easy three-eighths, but we saw everything we wanted to see. It was nice and smooth. We just wanted to make sure he was moving well. For his first three-eighths back, we saw everything we wanted to see.”
So far as the colt's future on the racetrack, Toffey said that remains up in the air.
“Todd's comment was that it would take six to eight weeks to get him back. Really, what we are looking for is to determine if he can be the same kind of horse that he was,” Toffey said. “If we feel like that's going to be the case after we put our heads together with Todd then he would have a 4-year-old year at the track. If we don't feel he can do that he would probably come to Spendthrift and start his stud career. We will have plenty of time to make the best decision.”
Ted Noffey is undefeated in four career starts and also won the GI Breeders' Futurity and the GI Hopeful Stakes.
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