PR Harness the record of the oval

Pacer

Noble Comet

10 charted starts at Plainridge, 1 win, best mile 1:55.4.

The Record

Noble Comet appears in the surviving Plainridge programs across 2 seasons, 2003 to 2004, with 10 starts for which the official chart records a finishing position. One of those produced a win, and the horse finished in the first three on 7 occasions altogether.

The fastest mile recorded here is 1:55.4, set on Monday, October 18, 2004. A harness time is written in minutes, seconds and fifths, so the final digit is a fifth of a second rather than a hundredth. On a track of this size like Plainridge a horse turns four times in a mile, which costs ground against the bigger tracks and makes comparison against the divisional marks misleading.

The winner's line in the chart gives the breeding as AB'S COMET out of NOBLE LADY, herself by NOBLELAND SAM. Harness pedigrees are quoted in that order — sire, dam, then the dam's own sire — because the maternal grandsire carries much of the weight in judging a standardbred family.

The classes Noble Comet was entered in run to NW4PMLT, NW6PMLT, NW5PMLT, BAYSTATE, W3-5PMLT, 2500. These are condition races rather than claiming events, so eligibility rested on money already won rather than on a posted purchase price.

The drivers who sat behind Noble Comet most often were David J Marshall (6), Fernand A Paquet Jr (2), Michael E Eaton (1). Driver changes matter more in harness racing than the bare numbers suggest, because the same horse can be driven for early speed or held for a late quarter depending on who holds the lines.

Every Start Held Here

DateRcFinPPTimeOddsDriverClass
Oct 25, 2004 10 1 8 1:57.3 1.10 Fernand A Paquet Jr NW4PMLT
Oct 18, 2004 5 2 5 1:55.4 3.60 Fernand A Paquet Jr NW6PMLT
Oct 9, 2004 9 2 6 1:57.0 10.90 David J Marshall NW6PMLT
Sep 27, 2004 11 8 3 1:56.2 95.20 David J Marshall
Apr 20, 2004 4 3 5 1:57.0 12.60 Greg D Bowden NW6PMLT
Apr 13, 2004 6 3 5 2:00.2 15.20 David J Marshall NW5PMLT
Apr 6, 2004 5 2 David J Marshall BAYSTATE
Apr 6, 2004 4 3 2 2:01.0 13.60 David J Marshall W3-5PMLT
Dec 2, 2003 7 4 1 1:59.4 6.20 Michael E Eaton NW4PMLT
Nov 25, 2003 11 2 4 1:59.3 7.40 David J Marshall NW4PMLT
Nov 18, 2003 11 4 6 1:58.3 21.10 David J Marshall NW4PMLT
Nov 11, 2003 8 2 David J Marshall NW5PMLT
Nov 4, 2003 9 7 David J Marshall 2500

All horses in the record

Questions about this horse

Did Noble Comet ever win here?

Yes — 1 win from 10 starts, a strike rate of 10%. Adding 3 seconds and 3 thirds, Noble Comet finished in the first three on 7 occasions.

What was Noble Comet's fastest mile?

1:55.4, on 2004-10-18. Harness times are read as minutes, seconds and fifths, so 1:55.4 is 1 minute and the rest in seconds — the final fifth is the digit after the last point.

Which drivers sat behind Noble Comet?

David J Marshall (6), Fernand A Paquet Jr (2) and Michael E Eaton (1), plus 1 other driver taking the remainder. The figure in brackets is the number of drives.

Was Noble Comet a trotter or a pacer?

A pacer — every charted start is at the pace. A pacer moves its legs in lateral pairs, a trotter in diagonal pairs, and a horse is normally campaigned at one gait or the other.

What class did Noble Comet race in?

NW4PMLT, NW6PMLT, NW5PMLT and BAYSTATE, plus 2 other conditions. Each code is a set of eligibility conditions rather than a grade — the class pages explain what each one admitted.

What were the odds on Noble Comet?

The shortest price in the recovered charts is 1.10 to one. Odds are the closing figures printed on the chart, so they reflect what the pool decided at the off, not a forecast.

How often did Noble Comet go to the gate here?

The record shows 10 charted starts for Noble Comet, 2003 to 2004. The name appears on 12 race days in all once entry sheets are counted, because a horse can be drawn into a race and then scratched before it is run. That is what the programmes and result sheets hold, not necessarily the horse's full career: starts made at other tracks are outside this record.