Noble Indy | Horse Profile
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Noble Indy
Noble Indy running in the Louisiana Derby (Hodges Photography)
Noble Indy Career Statistics
Starts: 5
Wins: 3
Places: 0
Shows: 1
Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings: $691,600
Owner: WinStar Farm and Repole Stable
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Undecided
Pedigree: Take Charge Indy – Noble Maz, by Storm Boot
Recent Finish: 17th, Kentucky Derby, G1 (5/5/18)
Notable Wins: Louisiana Derby (G2)
Noble Indy Horse Profile
Noble Indy enters the Derby with just four races, and his most recent was a win in the $1 million Louisiana Derby which secured his spot in the starting gate for the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby. His maiden win at Gulfstream in December was by more than 8 lengths going 7 furlongs, and his 97 BRIS Speed Rating provided a hint of his potential. His 2018 debut five weeks later was another win at Gulfstream, this time posting a BRIS rating of 95 over 1 1/16 miles in allowance company. His stakes debut followed in the Risen Star (G2), and he finished 3rd two lengths behind long shot Bravazo. Then in his strongest test, Noble Indy lost the lead in the stretch of the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby only to prevail in the final furlong over Lone Sailor and My Boy Jack, two other Derby runners.
The track at the Fair Grounds for the 1 1/8 mile Louisiana Derby had a bias that put speed at a disadvantage, and the flow and race shape favored closers with My Boy Jack flying at the end after sitting last through six furlongs. Noble Indy showed tenacity and fight in his stretch drive, and his 100 BRIS rating was a career best. He also earned a solid, if not unspectacular 95 Beyer Speed Figure in the Louisiana Derby along with a 118 Timeform figure that is within six points of the top number earned in 2018 in a Derby points race.
BRIS speed measures how fast a horse ran a particular race and is comparable across distance, surface, and location. Class measures competition within each race.
Key Speed Figures and Stats for Noble Indy
- Final 3/8 mile time in the Louisiana Derby :38.81 seconds
- Best BRIS Speed and Class Rating of 100 in Louisiana Derby
- Trainer Todd Pletcher is a 2-time Kentucky Derby winner including in 2017
Noble Indy has been on or near the lead in all his races, and three times he had the lead at the six furlong marker. Wearing blinkers for the first time in the Louisiana Derby, he may not have seen Lone Sailor come up alongside and pass him in the stretch before reasserting himself in the final furlong to prevail. His running style may not work too well in this Derby with many other horses willing to push the pace or stalk with more speed.
The concern with Noble Indy is he has shown he’ll get a little aggressive early in races and seems to even be looking for a horse to battle the whole way. That can be taxing physically and mentally, and going the 1 ¼ mile distance against other faster horses in just his fifth start may be too much for a colt that jockey John Velazquez has said is still green and needing to mature more quickly. Perhaps that is one reason why Velazquez will be riding Vino Rosso in the Derby instead of Nobel Indy.
Horses that are finishing strongly at the end of their prep races are more likely to handle the distance of the Kentucky Derby (1 ¼ miles) than horses that are tiring at the end of their prep races. Each of the last six Kentucky Derby winners – and 16 of the last 21 – ran the last three-eighths of their final Derby prep race in less than 38 seconds. Noble Indy did not, as he finished the Louisiana Derby in :38.81.
Noble Indy makes his debut at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby, so follow how he’s working and training over the track leading up to the race. Pedigree and getting the Derby distance does not appear to be a too big of a concern with his sire and grandsire, but there is concern on the bottom half of his pedigree. Noble Indy’s sire Take Charge Indy was a son of A.P. Indy who won the Belmont Stakes.
The Louisiana Derby was not the strongest race, and Noble Indy has not overwhelmed in his two stakes starts. There appears to be more likelihood that he could burn himself out running along the frontend and lacking enough stamina and speed in the stretch to hold off faster horses and stronger closers in the Kentucky Derby.