Noble Indy adding blinkers for Louisiana Derby

Trainer Todd Pletcher already has taken down the Holy Bull Stakes with Audible and the Rebel Stakes with Magnum Moon, but if he wins a third Kentucky Derby prep race, the $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, Pletcher will be bucking his own history.

Noble Indy finished a solid-if-unspectacular third Feb. 17 in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez believe the colt has more to give, and in an effort to bring forth a fuller breadth of Noble Indy’s talent, Pletcher will race him in blinkers for the first time Saturday.

“He galloped out in front last time,” said Pletcher. “Sometimes that means something, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Pletcher has done just fine with horses adding blinkers, having won with 21 percent of 267 such starters over the last five years, according to Daily Racing Form statistics. But filter the data to include only graded stakes races for 3-year-olds during the same period, and starters from the barn have compiled a record of 0-1-2 from 12 starts. The most recent such runner is Vino Rosso, who was fourth at odds of 2-1 on March 10 in the Tampa Bay Derby. The first horse in the sample is Palace Malice, who added blinkers for the Kentucky Derby and ran like he was being chased by wolves early in the race before laboring home 12th.

Pletcher took those blinkers off for the Belmont Stakes, and Palace Malice won, and there’s no question we’re dealing here with an expert trainer whose tinkering often produces desired results. A dozen horses don’t make an immutable trend, and Noble Indy wouldn’t have to move up massively to win the Louisiana Derby.

Moreover, after winning his first two starts mainly on raw ability, Noble Indy had a more complicated and demanding experience in the Risen Star, where he was taken back to race behind and inside rivals for the first time.

“He was a little bit intimidated inside,” Pletcher said. “While there was space to move into, he was a little shy about going up there. We think that the blinkers will take care of him being a little shy of other horses.”

Noble Indy has worked in blinkers since the Risen Star, but there was never an issue with getting the horse to focus in his breezes, Pletcher said. Noble Indy has merely been getting used to running around the track with a more limited field of vision. He and Velazquez have post 2 Saturday, with horses drawn to the outside likely more intent on making the lead. Noble Indy’s connections should quickly get a fair read on whether this equipment change has been for the better.

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