Noosa Beach nominated to the 2011 Breeders’ Cup

July 1, 2011 - Trainer Doris Harwood announced that she and husband/owner Jeff Harwood have nominated Washington-bred Noosa Beach to the 2011 Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 4-5 at Churchill Downs.

To make Noosa Beach eligible, the Harwoods paid a $25,000 provisional nomination fee that is part of a new “open enrollment” program offered by the Breeders’ Cup, which is available to any horse sired by a stallion nominated to the Breeders’ Cup for the 2011 breeding season. The deadline for open enrollment nominations is midnight Thursday.

“We decided to nominate Noosa Beach for several reasons,” Doris Harwood said. ”It gives us multiple options: leasing Noosa Beach, selling him, or taking him ourselves. Also, his value increases tremendously if he’s Breeders’ Cup eligible.”

In previous years, Noosa Beach’s connections would have had to pay a prohibitive supplemental nomination fee because the 5-year-old’s sire Harbor the Gold was not nominated to the Breeders’ Cup in 2005, the year that Noosa Beach was conceived. Doris Harwood said even though she spoke with a Breeders’ Cup representative, who all but guaranteed Noosa Beach would get in the BC Dirt Mile, a selection committee still has to qualify him for the race, and Noosa Beach must stay healthy.

“It was a difficult decision for Jeff and me, because we are taking a gamble,” she said. “But as of right now, things are looking pretty good with how Noosa Beach has been running.”

The 2010 Emerald Downs Horse of the Meeting has already captured the first two stakes races in 2011—Governor’s and Budweiser Handicap—in the older horse division. With the July 24 Mt. Rainier Handicap as the last local prep, Noosa Beach has stamped himself as the resident favorite to defend his title in the 2011 Longacres Mile (G3) on Aug. 21.

In addition to Noosa Beach’s success, Doris Harwood’s previous Breeders’ Cup experience adds a level of comfort to the difficult decision. In 2007, the 58-year-old conditioner saddled triple stakes winner Smarty Deb for a fifth-place finish in the $2 million Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Monmouth Park. And the day before, Smarty Deb’s stablemate Margo’s Gift scored a 26–to-1 upset at Monmouth in the $250,000 Favorite Trick.

In other news, Doris Harwood said Thursday that owner Frank Gaunt has transferred twelve horses from her barn to trainer Frank Lucarelli’s stable, motivated by Lucarelli’s strong presence in California. She also said that longtime assistant trainer Maryellen Silva has moved to Southern California to run a string of horses at Del Mar.

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