Pedigree fun facts: Ted Noffey

Jan 19, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Ted Noffey stayed unbeaten in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar 2025 (Photo by Horsesphotos.com)

The early favorite for the 2026 Kentucky Derby (G1), Ted Noffey, will try to make history for perennial leading sire Into Mischief on the first Saturday in May.

Into Mischief is on the threshold of setting a new record, if he can sire a fourth Kentucky Derby winner. When his son Sovereignty captured the roses in 2025, he became a record-tying third Derby hero for Into Mischief, following Authentic (2020) and Mandaloun (2021).

In the entire history of the Kentucky Derby, going back to 1875, only four other stallions have sired three winners of America’s iconic race.

Two came in the early years – nineteenth-century sire Virgil was responsible for Vagrant (1876), Hindoo (1881), and Ben Ali (1886), and Falsetto straddled the turn of the 20th century with his sons Chant (1894), His Eminence (1901), and Sir Huon (1906).

Their feat was equaled by *Sir Gallahad III, a French import (the asterisk in the name denoted imports before the modern style of country codes). He sired Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox (1930), Gallahadion (1945), and Hoop Jr. (1945).

Bull Lea, the great patriarch of Calumet Farm, furnished Triple Crown legend Citation (1948), Hill Gail (1952), and Iron Liege (1957).

As Into Mischief seeks a record-breaking fourth Derby winner, he has a veritable army of offspring amassing for 2026. Ted Noffey leads the charge as the unbeaten Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) star, and mortal lock to be voted champion two-year-old male. But watch for other Into Mischiefs on the rise, including Cannoneer, Commandment, and Renegade.

With that historical context in mind, we can delve into Ted Noffey’s pedigree fun facts.

Into Mischief’s sire was a beaten Derby favorite.

Into Mischief’s signature win came in the 2007 CashCall Futurity (G1), now the Los Alamitos Futurity. Unfortunately, an injury knocked him off the Derby trail.

Into Mischief is himself the son of a beaten Derby favorite, Harlan’s Holiday.  Favored after major wins in the 2002 Florida Derby (G1) and Blue Grass (G1), Harlan’s Holiday finished seventh in the Run for the Roses. But he went on to add the Pennsylvania Derby (G3) and Donn H. (G1) to his resume, ultimately retiring with more than $3.6 million in earnings.

Harlan’s Holiday descends from the male line of breed-shaper Northern Dancer, the 1964 Derby and Preakness champion, via the branch of supersire Storm Cat. Harlan’s Holiday is out of a mare by 1978 Triple Crown warrior Affirmed.

Into Mischief is a half-brother to Hall of Famer Beholder.

Into Mischief is out of Broodmare of the Year Leslie’s Lady, making him a half-brother to Hall of Famer Beholder and Mendelssohn. (Horses are described as half-siblings if they share the same mother.) Beholder was a three-time Breeders’ Cup champion, and Mendelssohn landed the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1). They put Leslie’s Lady into an exclusive club of mares who have produced multiple Breeders’ Cup winners.

Ted Noffey’s mother recently sold for $6.2 million.

Just a few days after Ted Noffey extended his undefeated record in the Breeders’ Cup, his dam (mother), Streak of Luck, toured the auction ring during Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November’s Night of Stars.

Bidding started at $1 million and finally ended at $6.2 million, when Kia Joorabchian’s AMO Racing USA prevailed. That was the highest price for a horse sold at public auction in the U.S. in 2025.

Ted Noffey’s maternal grandfather won two high-profile Derby preps.

Ted Noffey gets his gray coat from the maternal side of the family. Streak of Luck is by the gray Old Fashioned, who romped as the odds-on favorite in the 2008 Remsen (G2). Old Fashioned opened 2009 with another score in the Southwest (G3), only to be upset in the two subsequent legs of Oaklawn Park’s series, the Rebel (G2) and Arkansas Derby (G2).

Old Fashioned is by a beaten Derby favorite who was the son of a Derby champion.

Old Fashioned is by another gray, Unbridled’s Song, who was fifth as the favorite in the 1996 Derby. Hero of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Florida Derby, and Wood Memorial (G2), Unbridled’s Song became an outstanding sire, with his progeny led by Hall of Famer Arrogate.

As his name implies, Unbridled’s Song is a son of champion Unbridled, who turned the Kentucky Derby/Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) double in 1990. Unbridled left an indelible mark at stud, also through his son Empire Maker, the 2003 Belmont (G1) star (and grandsire of Triple Crown sweeper American Pharoah), and daughter Tap Your Heels (who became the mother of Tapit).

Ted Noffey’s maternal grandmother shares the same sire as Smarty Jones.

Streak of Luck is out of Valeria, by Elusive Quality, the sire of 2004 Derby and Preakness champion Smarty Jones. Elusive Quality was brilliant himself. A track record-setter on the dirt at Gulfstream Park, he also set a world record going a mile on the turf at Belmont Park.

Elusive Quality’s sire line appears to be secure through another top-class son, $2.2 million-earner Quality Road. But his influence is especially significant through his daughters, who have produced the likes of two-time champion Essential Quality. Winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2020, Essential Quality was third as the 2021 Derby favorite, and later scored in the Belmont and Travers (G1).

Ted Noffey’s ancestress competed against the mother of a future Derby winner.

Valeria’s mother, Lindsay Jean, made her first start in 2000 at old Hollywood Park, where she placed second to a fellow debutante named Above Perfection. Although Above Perfection went on to become a very smart sprinter, she’s more memorable for producing 2017 Derby winner Always Dreaming.

Lindsay Jean compiled a successful career on the racetrack herself, winning or placing in a dozen stakes. Her biggest victory came in the 2003 Brown Bess H. (G3) on the turf at Golden Gate Fields.

Lindsay Jean is by the same sire as Oaks-winning Hall of Famer Ashado.

Lindsay Jean’s sire, Saint Ballado, started out life in the shadow of his high-profile full siblings. His older sister, Glorious Song, was a Canadian Hall of Famer as well as a U.S. Eclipse Award winner, and his full brother Devil’s Bag was the sensational champion two-year-old colt of 1983.

But Saint Ballado turned out to be a terrific sire, responsible for 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam and two-time champion Ashado, winner of the 2004 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).

Lindsay Jean is out of a mare by a Derby and Preakness champion.

Lindsay Jean’s mother, Colony Bay, is a daughter of champion Pleasant Colony, who won two-thirds of the Triple Crown in 1981. After rolling from off the pace to capture the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, he got no nearer than third in the Belmont.

Pleasant Colony would gain compensation by siring a Belmont winner, Colonial Affair (1993). His other top progeny include Pleasantly Perfect, hero of the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Classic and 2004 Dubai World Cup (G1); U.S. champions Pleasant Tap and Pleasant Stage; and European champion St. Jovite.

Ted Noffey descends from a full sister to his own male-line ancestor, Storm Bird.

Colony Bay’s mother, Oceana, is by Northern Dancer and out of 1970 Canadian Oaks winner South Ocean. That makes her a full sister to Storm Bird, a brilliant juvenile champion in England and Ireland in 1980. Subsequently immortalized as the sire of Storm Cat, Storm Bird is therefore Ted Noffey’s direct male-line ancestor. Oceana and Storm Bird are also full siblings to Canadian Hall of Famer Northernette, an influential matron herself.

Ted Noffey traces to the family of a Hopeful-winning champion from 1950.

Tracing the direct female line further back, you find Battlefield, the champion two-year-old colt of 1950. According to Avalyn Hunter’s American Classic Pedigrees, he amassed record earnings for a U.S. juvenile colt at that time.

Like Ted Noffey, Battlefield won the premier juvenile race at Saratoga, the Hopeful. But Battlefield had a much busier campaign at two, winning 10 of 13 races in a span from February through September. Seven of his wins came in stakes, including the Futurity, Saratoga Special, Sapling, and Tremont.

Although Battlefield did not compete in the 1951 Derby or Preakness, he had a productive three-year-old season. He added the Travers, Dwyer, and Withers to his resume while finishing second in the Belmont.

Battlefield remained a prominent player as an older horse in 1952 and 1953. He ultimately retired with a record of 22 wins, 14 seconds, and two thirds from 44 starts.

Ted Noffey stays perfect in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile! 🏆 @spendthriftfarm @ljlmvel

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— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) November 1, 2025