Noble Nick set to fulfill prediction in Humboldt County Marathon
When trainer Ari Herbertson claimed Noble Nick for $16,000 on May 11 at Golden Gate Fields, he said he told his father, Scott, that they had a horse for the $20,000 C.J. Hindley Humboldt County Marathon at Ferndale.
Little did he know that Noble Nick, a 4-year-old Zensational gelding, would come into the Marathon on Monday following a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar.
As pleasing as the graded stakes placing was for the father and son, winning the Marathon might mean even more.
Scott Herbertson has been attending races at Ferndale since his childhood and brought his son to see the Marathon many times. Scott won the race last year as part-owner of So Elite, also a $16,000 claim.
“The purse is not that great, but there’s something about the race,” said Ari Herbertson. “Everybody’s excited about it. My dad loves the Marathon. It’s a big deal for him.”
The 1 5/8-mile race goes around the Ferndale track four times.
Jonathan Wong, who saddled So Elite in the 2016 victory, says the race means a lot to Northern California owners and trainers.
“I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere,” Wong said.
Racing secretary Tom Doutrich assigned Noble Nick 131 pounds.
Said Doutrich: “This is a bucket-list race just like the Longacres Mile in Washington. Everyone wants to win it. It’s got tradition.”
Noble Nick has seven rivals in the race, including three - Presidentsky, Sir Vronski, and Unusually Big - trained by Quinn Howey.
Sir Vronski and Unusually Big are owned by Allen Aldrich, who may be the only Eclipse-winning owner (She’s a Tiger) to talk about Ferndale at the Eclipse Awards.
Ari Herbertson likes the way Noble Nick has handled the turns in gallops on the half-mile track, and says, “The farther he goes, the better he gets.”
But he’s seen plenty of surprises in the Marathon and adds, “You can’t take anything for granted.”