Record-setting Covfefe has Test as summer goal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The look in their eyes said it all.

“I’ve had people tell me it was one of the greatest races they’ve ever seen a horse run,” said Brad Cox, who sent out Covfefe to a record-shattering run last Friday in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness at Pimlico. “She was about as impressive as a horse can possibly be. The way she ran really was incredible.”

Covfefe sped six furlongs in 1:07.70, a clocking that has been verified through numerous sources. The 3-year-old filly got her final furlong in 11.69 seconds, smashing the former track record of 1:09 set by Northern Wolf in 1990. She earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.

Cox said that Covfefe, owned by the LNJ Foxwoods of the Roth family, came out of her race in great shape and returned to light training Wednesday at his Churchill Downs base. Cox said he will work backward from the Grade 1 Test Stakes on Aug. 3 at Saratoga in customizing a schedule for the Into Mischief filly.

“Maybe we’ll go in the Victory Ride” on July 5 at Belmont Park, “but we’ll play it as it comes,” said Cox, who earned an additional $50,000 last weekend by earning the most points in Pimlico’s bonus contest for trainers with stakes runners. “The Test is what we really want. She has such a great pedigree, and winning a Grade 1 would really enhance her value.”

As for his other Pimlico runners, Cox said Owendale is a good possibility for the June 8 Belmont Stakes after finishing third in the Preakness, while Warrior’s Charge, fourth as the Preakness pacesetter, will get a brief freshening before “something like the Indiana Derby” on July 13. Warrior’s Charge “ran hard the whole way,” he said. “I was proud of both of them.”

Mylady Curlin, the winner of the Allaire duPont Distaff, will be considered for the June 15 Fleur de Lis at Churchill, “but that’s back in four weeks, so I might back off on her a little after that.”

Ulele, second in the Black-Eyed Susan, has the Mother Goose, Iowa Oaks, or Indiana Oaks as a possible next start.

Meanwhile, Arklow, most recently second in the Man o’ War at Belmont, has the Grade 1 Manhattan on the Belmont undercard as “one of maybe three options” upcoming, said Cox. Break Even, the unbeaten winner of the Eight Belles at Churchill for the Klein family, is on target for the June 9 Jersey Girl at Belmont and also has the Test as a long-term goal.