Noble Bird Notches First Graded Stakes in Stephen Foster

Shaun Bridgmohan celebrates after winning the Stephen Foster Handicap on Noble Bird. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
For the second Saturday in a row, the Mark Casse barn took home a Grade 1 victory, this time in the $500,000 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. It took nearly the whole stretch of the 1 1/8 mile race with 28,968 fans cheering him home for Noble Bird to insure that he had the win over Lea.
As the field sorted itself out going into the first turn, Noble Bird took his spot in second behind Paganol, who eagerly set the pace. Shaun Bridgmohan seemed to have his hands full getting Noble Bird to relax in second down the backstretch with Noble Bird letting his rider he was ready to run at any time. After throwing in an opening half fraction of 46.81, Paganol’s two length lead was quickly eaten into with Noble Bird taking over as the end of the backstretch.
Noble Bird left Paganol in his dust as he rounded the turn into the stretch but Lea, who was making his first start since a third in the Dubai World Cup, was hot on his heels. With an eighth of a mile to go, Noble Bird opened up a 1 ½ length lead but Lea was coming like a freight train. Noble Bird saw Lea coming and dug in again but his efforts almost weren’t enough as Lea was only a neck behind Noble Bird when they flashed under the wire in a time of 1:47.94.
“I’ve been around a lot of good horses and he was working as good as I’ve ever seen a horse work week after week,” said Norman Casse, Mark Casse’s assistant. “If a horse is doing that and he’s not showing a lot on the track, you discard it. But he’d just ran the Alysheba [at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day], he ran a big race in that and he’ just got better from there. I thought we were sitting on a huge race today and he rewarded our confidence.”
Earning a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic due to the Stephen Foster being a “Win and You’re In” challenge race, Noble Bird looks to be aimed to the Classic after a summer campaign that may include racing in Saratoga or Del Mar.
“I think he [does get the Breeders’ Cup Classic distance],” Casse said. “If we can get him to learn how to relax a little bit more, that’s the key to winning that race and he showed today that he belongs with the best horses in the country.
Noble Bird is by Birdstone, who won the 2004 Belmont Stakes and out of Anyhow, whose sire Tiznow won the Breeders’ Cup Classic twice. He paid $11.40 to win on a $2 ticket at odds of 4.70-to-1. Lea, who went off as the 1.80-to-1 favorite, was second with second choice Hoppertunity finishing third.
Other races on the card
A Breeders’ Cup Distaff spot was also up for grabs on Saturday in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap. Frivolous, who was looking for her first win of the year, pulled off a shocker when taking home the win at odds of 32.10-to-1.
Frivolous settled back in second behind Yahilwa for the first three quarters of the 1 1/8 mile race but headed Yahilwa about half way through the far turn. The pair were still hooked up in the stretch with multiple others making their moves at the same time. Yahilwa dropped back by about a length but was still willing to fight as race favorite Sheer Drama also put in her bid in late stretch.
FRIVOLOUS AFTER WINNING THE FLEUR DE LIS

Frivolous was able to hold off all late comers and win by 1 ½ lengths with Sheer Drama finishing second and Tiz Windy passing by Yahilwa while inching up on Sheer Drama for third.
Finishing the race in 1:49.22, Frivolous paid $66.20 to win on a $2 win ticket.
Prado’s Sweet Ride made life interesting in the $100,000 Regret Stakes on Saturday night at Churchill when closing from last to first to win the race.
Still four lengths behind pace setting Lady Zuzu with an eighth of a mile to go, Prado’s Sweet Ride was able to end Lady Zuzu’s wire-to-wire bid when nipping her at the wire by a head. She covered the 1 1/8 mile turf race in a time of 1:51.88 and paid $21.00 to win.
In the final stakes race on the card, Island Town went nearly wire-to-wire in the $100,000 Matt Winn Stakes. However, the colt had to fight out the win and was headed by Fame and Power in the stretch with that being the only call he didn’t lead.
Even though he lost the lead, Island Town fought back and was able to lead by ½ length at the wire.