Covfefe 'acts like she's moved forward' for stakes debut
The 2-year-old filly Covfefe – well known for her name and her romping debut at Churchill Downs – is set to make her first stakes appearance in Sunday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette at Belmont Park.
Trainer Brad Cox said Wednesday that the LNJ Foxwoods-owned filly was set to arrive in New York the same day by airplane.
The Frizette, run at one mile, carries Breeders’ Cup implications as a “Win and You’re In” race, awarding the winner an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) run Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs.
“If she was to perform well – I don’t even know if she would have to win to say we would entertain the idea of the Breeders’ Cup – but right now, we’ll just have to see what happens Sunday and go from there,” Cox said.
Covfefe, named for a viral and now-deleted tweet by President Trump, made her first start Sept. 16 in a six-furlong maiden special weight event on dirt. The filly led gate-to-wire with Shaun Bridgmohan in the irons and hit the wire in 1:10.20. She was 9 ¼ lengths clear of the second-place finisher.
Keeneland also has a Breeders’ Cup qualifier for juvenile fillies carded this weekend. The Darley Alcibiades (G1) runs Saturday, but is a two-turn race at 1 1/16 miles.
“The one-turn mile is something we just thought would make sense right now with her, as opposed to trying to go around two turns with only having one race at six furlongs,” Cox said of heading to the Frizette.
Following her debut, Covfefe returned to the Churchill Downs work tab Sept. 25 for a “maintenance work” and turned in four furlongs in 49.60. She put in another work on Monday, breezing a bullet five furlongs in 59.20.
“Monday she worked fantastic. Just did it the right way,” Cox said. “It was better than really expected. She’s always been a good work horse, but she honestly acts like she’s moved forward from that race and she’ll need to.”
East Coast-based and Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will pick up the mount in the Frizette. Also expected in the race is Adirondack (G2) winner Sue’s Fortune and Graceful Princess, the debut-winning daughter of champion mare and Horse of the Year Havre de Grace.
Covfefe, by Into Mischief and out of the Unbridled mare Antics, was bred in Kentucky by Alexander Groves Thoroughbreds. She was purchased for $250,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Cox said it seems Covfefe is willing to stretch out in distance and rate, also adding she’ll do whatever the rider asks of her in the mornings.
“She just has a good mind, she’s talented, very fast,” he said. “Pretty much a lot of the things that make a good racehorse, she appears to have them, so we’re hoping she can get some Grade 1 black type on Sunday.”