Saratoga Maidens, presented by Keeneland: ‘As Long As He Can Run, You Can Call Him Anything You Want’ – Ned Toffey Celebrates Ted Noffey

[Wandering Eyes]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Many of the smiles and chuckles following Ted Noffey's victory in the first race at Saratoga Race Course Saturday had very little to do with his solid 1 1/2-length victory.

They were about his name, which was the result of a very simple but humorous mistake, as his, err, namesake Ned Toffey explained.

Toffey, for 21 years the general manager of Spendthrift Farm, which owns Ted Noffey, was chosen as Kentucky's Farm Manager of the Year in 2024, an honor that started the story.

“One of the publications did an interview with me,” Toffey said, “and they teased on Twitter (now X), 'Don't miss our next issue with such and such and such and such and an interview with Spendthrift's Ted Noffey. It was a typo. They put this on Twitter, teasing the article.”

Toffey's daughter Megan spotted the error online and notified the publication.

“Just an honest mistake,” Toffey said. “My daughter tweeted back at them and they immediately corrected it. They took it down and corrected it, but not before my daughter sent that on to my boss.”

Eric Gustavson, co-owner of Spendthrift with his wife, Tammy, had the Ted Noffey screenshot supplied by Megan and took care of the rest.

“I guess, he thought to himself, 'I know what to do with this,' but I didn't know they were doing it,” Toffey said after having his picture taken with Ted Noffey following his score in the $100,000 maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds. Toffey became aware of the name game play when Ted Noffey appeared on the worktab.

“I just saw the workouts one morning, somebody sent me his work,” Toffey said. “At this point he was already working well, but it's funny naming horses. You name them because you think they're good and sometimes they're not. I think you always have to be careful naming horses that way, but Eric Gustavson, he's got a great sense of humor, and he has a lot of fun with the names that he uses and does a really good job with it. So, it was a lot of fun. And like I said, as long as he can run, you can call him anything you want.”

Ted Noffey proved in his debut for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher–who secured his seventh win of the meet in the top-level maiden special weight division–that he has talent to go with the name. Sent off as the 7-2 third choice in the wagering with stablemate Grittiness (Curlin), he patiently stalked on the outside the early pace set by the 6-5 favorite Tagermeen, of :22.44 and :46.35.

Ted Noffey with John Velazquez in the irons | Tod Marks

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez asked him to engage at the five-sixteenths pole and he moved alongside Tagermeen (Into Mischief), a $1.4 million 2-year-old purchase at OBS April. Toffey said that Spendthrift stayed deep into the bidding for Tagermeen, who weakened in the stretch. Ted Noffey rolled on to beat Criteria (Yaupon). Ted Noffey reached the wire of the 6 1/2-furlong dirt race in 1:17.56 and paid $9.60.

Toffey said that the colt, bred by Aaron and Marie Jones out of the Streak of Luck by Old Fashoned, clearly stood out as a standout prospect.

“He's a beautiful animal,” Toffey said. “He's a big classy-looking horse. He's got some leg under him. It looked like he could be a two-turn type, but he also, he's got a great hip on him. He's very athletic. We were fortunate enough to get out to the farm before the September sale last year, out at Taylor Made, and we saw him there. When you see that kind it's kind of easy. You don't really write anything much in your notebook other than 'nice horse.' We went back, saw him at the sale, and said, 'Yeah, still a nice horse.' Just a big, classy, correct, athletic-looking horse. Looks like the kind of Into Mischief that can stretch out and go two turns. Really excited about him.”

Spendthrift purchased the colt sired by its star stallion for $650,000 at Keeneland September.

“He tipped his hand to us down in Ocala with Raul Reyes, who's broken horses for us for a long time, and does a great job,” Toffey said. “He looked the part down there, really, from the beginning in his breezes, but sometimes you send that kind on and you hear from the trainers and they say, 'we're not really seeing that,' but ever since he got to Todd, he's kind of been showing the same kind of precocity and early talent. Couldn't be happier with him so far. This is really nice, but hopefully bigger and better things to come.”

Pletcher said that Ted Noffey showed that he was ready for the test of a Saratoga maiden special weight race that kicked off the Whitney Stakes program.

“Very straightforward. Trained really well since he came in,” Pletcher said. “He's been breezing in company with some other colts that have run well in their debuts. We were optimistic coming in that he'd be professional enough to have a good debut.”

Toffey said it will be up to Pletcher when Ted Noffey returns to the races. A race like the GI Hopeful at the end of the meet could be loaded with colts with Spendthrift/Into Mischief connections.

“The good news is he's our third colt and fourth maiden special winner here this meet,” Toffey said. “I don't know if any of them can run with Tommy Jo (a Spendthrift filly by Into Mischief), but three nice colts, one with Mike Repole and one with Epic Horses and this guy we own on our own.”

Toffey grew up in Great Barrington, Mass., has spent most of his adult life working with horses and watched many dozens of them go to the gate. Ted Noffey was the first one who was kind of named for him.

“Somebody asked me if I was nervous,” he said, with a laugh. “I said, 'I'd be nervous if I had to run six and a half furlongs.' You know what the best part was? I had my family around me, and they're all cheering, and that was pretty nice.”

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