Leofric leads Cox exacta in West Virginia Governor's Stakes

As the field turned for home in the Grade 3, $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes Saturday, trainer Brad Cox had two runners going head-to-head for the lead.

Leofric and Term of Art, ridden by Florent Geroux and Julien Leparoux respectively, were no more than a length apart throughout the 1 1/16 miles, but Leofric secured the victory over his stablemate, giving Geroux and Cox their third win together on Mountaineer’s Saturday card.

In a short field of five, Term of Art went fo

r the lead but Leofric had the advantage being closer to the rail. The 5-year-old by Candy Ride opened with leisurely fractions in :24.25 and :48.14. Leparoux kept Term of Art close on the outside while Imperative settled behind the frontrunners in third. There was a gap to Matrooh in fourth while Hawaakom, who won the race in 2016, took up the rear.

Geroux waited patiently aboard Leofric, allowing Term of Art to stick his head in front and round the turn in 1:11.82. Once the Cox trainees straightened out, Geroux asked Leofric to go and the gray horse stuck his head back in front. The only other threat came from Matrooh on the outside, who dug in but couldn’t catch the Cox duo.

Term of Art, who was transferred from Doug O’Neill to Cox before winning an allowance at Ellis Park last out, kept fighting to regain the lead, but Leofric got the best of him. The winner was a neck in front at the wire, stopping the clock in 1:42.72.

“He’s just a solid horse,” Ricky Giannini, an assistant to Cox, said of Leofric. “I didn’t think he’d be that sharp out the gate, but Florent and I had talked before the race. There wasn’t a lot of speed, and it set up really well for him.”

As for Term of Art:

“He had some time off after racing mostly in California,” Giannini said. “He likes to cheat a little bit, so fortunately we also had the horse in front of him at the finish. He was spotted well (in his second start back), so that helped.”

Matrooh was a length back in third, with Imperative and Hawaakom completing the order of finish.

Leofric was originally purchased by Woodford Racing as a yearling for $330,000, but was sent back through the sales ring after three starts with trainer Neil Howard. Steve Landers Racing LLC picked up Leofric as a 3 year old for only $100,000 and placed him with Cox. The horse now has six career wins from 11 starts, and the West Virginia Governor’s Stakes marked Leofric’s first stakes score.