The Ohio based reinsman, who will mark his 29th birthday on January 15, used a perfect second over position in the backstretch to explode away to a widening margin of victory with five year old pacer Deep Finesse in the 2nd race on the December 31 card. The result was a life's mark of 1:51.3 for the son of Western Paradise-Deep River Woman being trained in Florida by Peter Pellegrino for the Baron Racing Stable of Horsham, PA.
"That trip worked out just great because I was able to get on the back of Mai Tai Guy who'd been parked to the half" Noble said in a live trackside TV interview with Pompano's Steve Carpenito. "This is the first time I've ever driven at Pompano and it's great to experience the Florida warmth and speeds they go here for myself. It was a long year for sure to pursue this title and I'm really glad I did it, with so much travel from Northfield Park to Scioto Downs to the Red Mile. The top memory I have of the whole year, which seemed like a bit of blur at times, was driving at The Red Mile during Grand Circuit Week. But, I'm ready to go again for 2012. Definitely, I'm going to try and do this again in the New Year even if it means living so much on the road and out of my truck for another year" Noble added.
His other winner on the New Year's Eve card at Pompano was a front end score in a life's mark of 1:51.1 for Touch Of Steel, in addition to a runner-up finish with conditioned pacer Final Flash. Noble's final scorecard for 2011 was 773 wins from 2,792 drives. George Brennan was next in the drivers' dash title chase at 754 wins, while Tim Tetrick topped the drivers' earnings category for the year at just over $15.4 million.
Post time is 7:15 p.m. Eastern every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday at The Winter Capital Of Harness Racing. Free race night live streaming, nightly handicapping selections by John Berry, and replays are in the 'racing' tab at www.theislepompanopark.com along with the full season racing schedule through July.
