Veteran trainer Chuck Jenda attempts to win the stakes named in honor of his former champion when he sends out A B Noodle in the $100,000 Brown Bess Handicap (gr. IIIT) on the Golden Gate Fields turf course Saturday. A B Noodle has won three stakes and is 5-for-15 overall with three seconds and a third. Jenda believes the 5-year-old mare could do even better if she would calm down before her races. "When you know she's got so much talent, and then she falls apart in the post parade, it's very frustrating," said Jenda. "We've spent an unbelievable amount of time schooling her in the paddock and working on getting her to settle down." Jenda thinks A B Noodle may just be a horse that gets some butterflies on race day. "When she sees all the people, she knows it's time to race and she's anxious to get it on," said Jenda. "I just wish she wouldn't use up all that energy (before the race)." A B Noodle is coming off her most impressive effort in more than a year – a front-running victory in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race run on a wet track at Golden Gate Fields on Jan. 3. In the 1 1/6-mile Brown Bess for older fillies and mares, A B Noodle will return to the turf, where she has four wins and a second in eight races. Owned by Amity and Bench, A B Noodle has earned $163,560. She'll break from post position four under jockey Roberto Gonzalez and carry 116 pounds.
Jenda did a masterful training job with Brown Bess, who earned the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding female grass horse of 1989. Overall, Brown Bess won 16 of her 36 starts and earned more than $1.3 million.
$100,000 Brown Bess Handicap (gr. IIIT), fillies & mares 4 & up, 1 1/16 mile on turf
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight
1.Ilha Grande, Francisco Duran, 115
2. Just Bill Me, Ron Warren, Jr., 113
3. Lady's Mantle, Pedro Mercado, 110
4. A B Noodle, Gonzalez, 116
5. Abbey Bridge, Kevin Radke, 116
6. Red Rioja, Eric Saint-Martin, 116
7. Keys to the Heart, Iggy Puglisi, 115
8. Hooked On Niners, Russell Baze, 115
9. Frisco Belle, Joey Castro, 115
10. Drew Away, Chance Rollins, 113