Noble Drama shows he's still got it in handicap victory

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Any thought that Noble Drama might be losing or step or two as a 6-year-old was quickly erased after the Florida-bred dug down deep to win Saturday’s sixth race, a $60,000 open overnight handicap decided at a mile on the main track.

Noble Drama, returning from a four-month layoff, withstood a wide trip and grueling stretch drive and proved narrowly best over a rail-skimming Glory of Florida and tenacious Pro Quality to notch his eighth victory, all for owner-breeder Harold Queen. The win snapped a three-race losing streak, all as the favorite, to close out his 2020 campaign and open the 2021 season, after which trainer David Fawkes said it was time to give Noble Drama a much deserved rest.

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“I called Harold after he finished second in the Sunshine Millions [Classic] and said he needs a vacation,” Fawkes recalled. “So we sent him home to the farm, where they did a great job getting him ready before sending him back to me last month. I didn’t put a lot into him, just four works, but the last one was phenomenal, this race came up, so I decided it was time to go.

“I didn’t think the race came up that tough, but he really had to bring his top game to win. He just knows where the wire is.”

Fawkes said there isn’t much on the schedule locally for Noble Drama over the next several months.

“They didn’t write a single dirt race on the stakes schedule this summer going long for older horses, either for statebreds or open,” Fawkes lamented. “The only option is really the Benny the Bull going seven furlongs in mid-August. Hopefully they’ll put something else up in the meantime.”

Noble Drama rallied from near the rear of the field last September to capture the 2020 Benny the Bull, which is restricted to statebreds.

Noble Drama’s victory on Saturday shared top billing on the card with Caribou Club’s come-from-behind 1 1/4-length victory over Harry’s Ontheloose and six other older turf sprinters in a $60,000 overnight dash run at five furlongs on the grass. The win was the first for Caribou Club since capturing the Grade 3 Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup at Laurel in September 2019.

Caribou Club is a 7-year-old Glen Hill Farm homebred trained by Tom Proctor.

Double Crown earned himself another shot at the Grade 3 Smile Sprint, coming off the bench fit and ready Sunday to capture an allowance dash at the expense of even-money Chance It. The outing was the first for Double Crown since a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico nearly eight months ago. Double Crown finished an even third in the 2020 Smile, decided in early September after having been postponed from its original date two months earlier due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kathy Ritvo trains Double Crown for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing. The 4-year-old also gave jockey Luca Panici his first victory since returning to the saddle after recuperating from a back injury suffered in a riding mishap here in February.

Both Double Crown and Chance It, who was making his first start in 14 months in Sunday’s feature, are likely to meet again in the six-furlong Smile on July 3.