Noble's Promise Euthanized Due to Kidney Failure

Grade 1 winner and Indiana sire Noble's Promise  was euthanized this month due to damage caused by a kidney tumor discovered and removed in February, according to the stallion's owner, Richard Rigney.

"Among the ones we raced, he was the horse with the biggest heart, who never gave up and always tried," Rigney said. "We had another good filly that we raced in partnership and won the (Darley) Alcibiades (Stakes, G1), but there was always something about him. We had longevity with him. He was certainly our favorite horse, for sure."

Noble's Promise, an 11-year-old son of Cuvee, was the only black-type runner produced from the Clever Trick daughter The Devil's Trick. Richard and Tammy Rigney raced the colt as part of the Chasing Dreams Racing 2008 partnership, which celebrated victories with him as a 2-year-old in the Dixiana Breeders' Futurity (G1) and Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile Stakes, and in the Aristides Stakes (G3) at 4. The colt also made a good run in the 2010 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), where he finished fifth.

The partnership ended up putting Noble's Promise through the 2011 Fasig-Tipton November Sale, where Rigney bought him outright for $125,000 under the name JCM Racing. At 5, the horse's best performances were seconds in the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (G3), Kelly's Landing Stakes, and the Don Bernhardt Stakes. Noble's Promise retired with six wins out of 27 starts, 10 other placed finishes, and total earnings of $1,193,376.

Noble's Promise became the Rigneys' first stallion venture when they stood him at Scott and Janice Jordan's Breakway Farm in Indiana, where his fee was $2,500.

To date, the stallion's best runners are Indiana Futurity winner Reverend John and stakes-placed winner Blue Hen Hockey, who finished third in the Ellen's Lucky Star Stakes on the turf. Noble's Promise has sired 10 winners from 13 runners.

The Rigneys' belief in Noble's Promise's potential now continues through a couple of homebred runners. One of them is a filly named Fireball Baby, who just broke her maiden by half a length in her second start Aug. 14 at Indiana Grand Race Course. Fireball Baby is the first foal out of Bubbles and Babies, an A.P. Indy mare out of Alcibiades winner Dream Empress, who the Rigneys campaigned as part of the Livin the Dream Racing partnership. The other runner is a colt named Snicker Cookie, who is in training at Churchill Downs and has not started yet.

"It was tough losing Noble's Promise, but we are excited about the runners we have. They will represent him well," Rigney said.

The Rigneys are now a part-owner of one other stallion, a son of Dominus named Straight Fire, who entered stud this year at Legacy Ranch in California. Straight Fire was second in the 2016 Del Mar Futurity (G1) and third in that year's FrontRunner Stakes (G1).