RACING Bath-born Richard Bond will be looking to go one better than last year when his horse Noble's Promise runs in the prestigious Breeders' Cup in California.

Bond – who emigrated to Kentucky with his wife, event rider Lori, 11 years ago – is part of a group of friends who bought the sprint prospect for a knock-down $10,000.

Noble's Promise was hand-picked by trainer Kenny McPeek and the two-year-old showed why he was a good choice when he held off a determined rally to win the $500,000 Dixiana Breeders' Futurity race as a 13-1 outsider earlier this month.

The race was part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series, meaning the Bonds will be heading to Santa Anita next Thursday to watch their horse compete in one of the world's most famous race meetings.

But it will not be their first taste of the Breeders Cup' – their filly Dream Empress was runner-up in the $1,832,000 Bessemer Trust Juvenile Fillies (G1) race last year.