Ted Noffey meets strong field for return in Dwyer

ELMONT, N.Y. – Fifty-three weeks after completing an undefeated championship season, Ted Noffey returns to the races in Saturday’s $200,000 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park. His performance in the one-mile race restricted to 3-year-olds figures to go a long way in determining if he has a racing future in 2027.

“We’re hoping for a strong performance,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “That could be a win, that could be a really good second or third; you don’t know until you see it. It’s at a time of the year if they want to commit to racing next year, we need to see where we are.”

Ted Noffey, owned by Spendthrift Farm, was last seen winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Oct. 31, 2025. It was his fourth consecutive win, third in a Grade 1, and completed a résumé that made him a near-unanimous choice for champion 2-year-old. Ted Noffey, a son of Into Mischief, won his four races from 6 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles.

In late January, after his second work of the year, it was announced that Ted Noffey would be sidelined due to bone bruising. He received 90 days off and resumed training in the spring. He had been working right along, then missed a work in mid-September. He was pointing to the Perryville at Keeneland on Oct. 17 but on the day of entry, he didn’t work up to Pletcher’s satisfaction at Saratoga and was not entered.

Pletcher moved Ted Noffey to Belmont Park, where he put in three more workouts over the Belmont training track.

Ted Noffey had “a little bit of a flat work, but he seemed to bounce back from it well,” Pletcher said. “He came back and subsequently worked back to the way we expected him to, but just didn’t love the spot. It was a huge field, didn’t have a great feeling for it. So I feel like we’re better positioned now to give him his best shot.”

John Velazquez rides Ted Noffey from post 6 in a 10-horse field.

The Dwyer did not come up a soft spot. Sea Strike, trained by Chad Brown, posted a dominant victory in the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga in August but may have run back too soon and/or found the company in the Travers a bit much, as he finished sixth, six lengths behind Leading Change in a race where Preakness winner Napoleon Solo finished second and Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo finished third.

“I think I just ran him back too soon,” Brown said. “Turning for home I thought I had a real chance to win it and he just packed it in. The way he won at a mile and an eighth, he shouldn’t have been packing it in after a mile in the [Travers].”

Flavien Prat rides Sea Strike from post 9.

Igniter, a son of Volatile, won the Ellis Park Derby at one mile before finishing fifth in the Pennsylvania Derby, a race that has proven to be productive. The Puma, who won the race, finished second to Sovereignty in last Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. Further Ado, the runner-up, won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The third-place finisher, Sassmaster, came back to win a high-quality allowance at Keeneland.

In the Pennsylvania Derby, Igniter had some early trouble in the race, having to steady back to seventh coming under the wire the first time. He was last going into the far turn and then raced wide before finishing a well-beaten fifth.

“I thought he ran okay considering he had some traffic trouble early on,” trainer Rick Dutrow said. “If he broke better, had a cleaner trip, it would have been a little better. I know this is a tough spot, but hopefully he shows he belongs with these horses.”

Manny Franco, who is 3 for 5 aboard Igniter but hasn’t been on him since March, gets back aboard from post 8 for the Dwyer.

The New York-bred Bravaro won the $500,000 Robert Hilton Stakes for 3-year-olds at Charles Town in August before scratching out of the Gallant Bob at Parx three weeks later. Paco Lopez rides from the rail.

Stimulate, trained by Bill Mott, is back to one turn after finishing third behind a razor-sharp Plutarch in the Bourbon Flight Stakes going two turns at Churchill Downs.

The Dwyer goes as race 8 on a 10-race card that begins at 11:40 a.m. and includes the Grade 2 Mother Goose for 3-year-old fillies, as well as the listed Pumpkin Pie Stakes and listed Carle Place.