Breeders’ Cup Press
ARCADIA, Calif. (Nov. 2, 2019) – LNJ Foxwoods’ Covfefe ($5) surged to the lead at the top of the stretch and held off a bid from Bellafina by three-quarters of a length to win the 13th running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, the first of nine World Championship races Saturday at Santa Anita.
Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Joel Rosario, Covfefe covered the 7 furlongs on a fast main track in 1:22.40.
The victory was the second of the weekend for Cox who saddled British Idiom to victory in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. For Rosario, it is his 10th Breeders’ Cup victory and second in the Filly & Mare Sprint having won previously in 2015 on Wavell Avenue.
Longshots Danuska’s My Girl and Heavenhasmynikki dueled for the early lead with Covfefe rating in third. Turning for home, Covfefe moved three wide to the front, shook off a challenge from Spiced Perfection and then had enough to hold off Bellafina.
The victory was worth $550,000 and improved Covfefe’s earnings to $1,110,025 with a record of 8-6-0-1 that includes two Grade 1 victories.
Covfefe is a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Into Mischief out of the Unbridled mare Antics.
Race Quotes:
Winning trainer Brad Cox (Covfefe) – “She’s a champion, hopefully. I feel like championship honors were on the line for champion filly and mare sprinter. I hope she locked that up. Two Grade 1s; two very prestigious races. She overcame a lot today too. I know this race hasn’t been around a long, long time but I think eight Test winners maybe have tried this and not been able to break through. One, two and three were all holes horses hadn’t performed well from, 3 year olds hadn’t performed well in the race. The list went on of all these things which hadn’t been done. But I didn’t waiver. I thought there was no shot of her not running her race. I knew she was going to run her race. You just stay optimistic and know your horse is doing well and the rest will take care of itself.”
Winning jockey Joel Rosario (Covfefe) – “Coming out of the one hole, there were a couple horse that showed more speed out of there. I was able to work my way out and get her in the clear. After that, she did all the work.”
Second-place trainer Simon Callaghan (Bellafina) – “I think Flavien didn’t make the right move at a vital point. I think if he goes outside (instead of inside on the backstretch), I think she wins. She ran great. It’s disappointing.”
Second-place jockey Flavian Prat (Bellafina) – “The filly broke just OK and I got squeezed out of the break. I decided to drop in. From there she was traveling well. She made a good move, I thought, turning for home. I thought I was going to catch him, but as soon as the winner saw me she re-engaged.”
