2026 Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Winner Ted Noffey

Welcome to Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, the place we have a look every week at a latest winner on the Highway to the Derby schedule from which racehorses earn factors towards qualifying for the 1 ¼-mile basic race Could 2, 2026, at Churchill Downs.

This week, we take a better take a look at Ted Noffey, the one-length winner of the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Introduced by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Oct. 31 at Del Mar. The de facto champion 2-year-old male leads the Highway to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 40 factors.

Racing Résumé: Ted Noffey has merely been good to this point. He’s received all 4 of his begins by a size or extra and cemented the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male along with his third straight Grade 1 win within the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar.

The one-length Breeders’ Cup win adopted an 8 ½-length romp within the seven-furlong Spendthrift Farm Hopeful Stakes and a 2 ¾-length triumph within the 1 1/16-mile Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity.

Ted Noffey stalked second betting selection Brant from second because the 4-5 favourite within the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and was inside a half-length of the Del Mar Futurity winner by a half-mile in :46.99. He took command underneath common rider John Velazquez coming into the stretch and completed with a closing quarter-mile in :25.23 to put up a transparent win over runner-up Mr. A. P.

“I used to be very assured,” Velazquez mentioned. “He’s a simple horse to trip, actually, that’s it. Simply let him do his factor and he’s pleased, as he’s finished each single race.”

Velocity Figures: Ted Noffey earned a brand new career-best 114 Equibase Velocity Determine for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile win, a 10-point enchancment from his earlier greatest earned within the Hopeful. Day by day Racing Type’s Beyer Velocity Figures seen the Juvenile as in step with his two earlier Grade 1 wins as he’s earned a 98 for the Hopeful and a 97 for each the Breeders’ Futurity and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. These are quick velocity figures for a 2-year-old within the fall.

Operating Fashion: Ted Noffey has terrific tactical velocity that enables him to stalk or press the tempo and pounce when given his cue by Velazquez. That’s a working fashion that ought to assist maintain him out of hassle in prep races on the Kentucky Derby path and his excessive cruising velocity would even be an enormous constructive within the Kentucky Derby in a 20-horse discipline.

Pedigree Notes: Ted Noffey is by Spendthrift Farm’s standout stallion Into Mischief, who has been the main sire in North America yearly since 2019. Into Mischief leads Not This Time by greater than $7.7 million in progeny earnings in 2025 and is for a seventh straight 12 months within the prime slot.

Into Mischief is the sire of 2020 Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Yr Genuine, 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun, and 2025 Kentucky Derby Introduced by Woodford Reserve, Belmont Stakes Introduced by NYRA Bets, and DraftKings Travers Stakes winner Sovereignty. Sovereignty stands an excellent likelihood to present Into Mischief his second Horse of the Yr winner as a sire and each Ted Noffey and Sovereignty ought to win the Eclipse Award for the 2-year-old male and 3-year-old male divisions, respectively.

Ted Noffey’s dam (mom) is Grade 2-placed stakes winner Streak of Luck, by Outdated Original. Streak of Luck’s stakes win got here at one mile on the grass as did her two graded stakes-placings.

A two-time winner at 1 1/16 miles, Ted Noffey ought to have the ability to excel at 1 1/8 miles after which, as for a lot of others, the true distance take a look at will come when he tries 1 ¼ miles for the primary time.

Derby Potential: Solely two Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winners (Road Sense in 2006 and Nyquist in 2015) have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby. It speaks to how troublesome it’s to be an elite 2-year-old and carry that kind all through the primary Saturday in Could, but in addition simply how arduous it’s to win the Kentucky Derby. It’s a large discipline with the potential for a lot adversity – a gradual begin, inclement climate, visitors, tempo, 150,000 screaming followers – that makes successful the primary jewel of the Triple Crown a mixture of getting a wonderfully tuned 3-year-old Thoroughbred and a roll of the cube.

Ted Noffey has all of the substances you’d search for in a long-term prospect, however six months is an eternity in horse racing and easily getting a horse to the race in peak situation is a monumental problem. Can Ted Noffey grow to be the third horse to brush the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby? In fact … however as all the time, the opposite opinion is a far, way more probably end result.