Fev Rover victorious in the E. P. Taylor (G1) Oct. 8 at Woodbine (Michael Burns)
Strong Quality Targeting Return to Grass in G1 Manhattan
Run for the Hills Will Try G2 Intercontinental
Souper Quest, Filo Di Arianna Pointing Towards G1 Jaipur
Ice Chocolat to G3 Poker, French Horn to Astoria
Conman and Coinage Eye Kingston
NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Tracy Farmer’s talented dual Grade 1-winning millionaire Fev Rover will make her anticipated return in the Grade 1, $750,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino, a 1 3/16-mile turf test for older fillies and mares on Friday, June 7 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
The now 6-year-old Gutaifan bay posted a record of 6-3-0-1 last year, including Grade 1 scores in the Beverly D. at Colonial Downs and the E. P. Taylor at Woodbine Racetrack where she also took down the Grade 2 Nassau. Fev Rover was also a close third in the Spa’s Grade 1 Diana where she finished a half-length back of the victorious Whitebeam, who nosed out her stablemate In Italian.
The tremendous season propelled Fev Rover to Horse of the Year honors in Canada where her dual Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse was also a Sovereign Award-winner as Outstanding Trainer for the 13th consecutive year and 16th time overall.
Fev Rover was last seen finishing off-the-board in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on November 4 at Santa Anita Park.
“She was Horse of the Year in Canada, which is important,” Casse said. “Her wins in the Beverly D and E. P. Taylor were big races. Her race at Saratoga in the Diana, she just got a little unlucky.
“I was disappointed with her effort in the Breeders’ Cup – she just didn’t show up,” Casse added. “I don’t know why, she had trained really well into it, so I was disappointed with her performance.”
Fev Rover returned to the work tab on March 31 at Woodbine where she has breezed consistently over the Tapeta course, including a half-mile effort from the gate in 47.20 on May 18.
“She loves Woodbine. It’s where we’ve gotten her ready the last couple of years,” Casse said. “She’s training very well. She loves to train on the synthetic. We purposely get her ready over the synthetic.”
Fev Rover’s will again be piloted in the New York by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano.
Previously conditioned by Richard Fahey, Fev Rover was a Group 2 winner in France in 2020 and finished third in the 2021 Group 1 English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. She was acquired by Farmer from the 2021 Tattersalls December Mares Sale for over $970,000 and made her North American debut when a close second in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly in July 2022 at Woodbine. Fev Rover went on to capture the Grade 2 Canadian there one month later ahead of a third-place result in that year’s Grade 1 E. P. Taylor.
Bred in Ireland by Manister House Stud, Fev Rover is out of the High Chapparal mare Laurelita.
Casse, a fixture each summer at Saratoga, will have a number of starters at the upcoming Belmont Stakes Racing Festival which spans Thursday, June 6 through Sunday, June 9.
Highlighted by the 156th edition of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday, June 8, the four-day Festival will include 24 stakes races with purses totaling $10.25 million, the highest purse levels and number of stakes offered since the launch of the multi-day Festival in 2014.
Among Casse’s anticipated Festival runners are Gary Barber and Kinsman Stable’s Strong Quality, last-out winner of the restricted Knicks Go on dirt on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs, who will target a return to grass in the Grade 1, $1 million Resorts World Casino Manhattan, a 1 3/16-mile turf test for older horses on June 8.
Gary Barber’s Run for the Hills, third last-out in the Grade 3 Unbridled Sydney on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill, will try the Grade 2, $200,000 Intercontinental presented by MTV Solutions at 5 1/2-furlongs turf for older fillies and mares on Friday, June 7.
The complementary duo of Live Oak Plantation’s speedy Florida homebred Souper Quest and the Barber, Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutsch-owned closer Filo Di Arianna will point to the Grade 1, $500,000 Jaipur presented by Resolute Racing on June 8. The 5 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November at Del Mar.
Barber, Wachtel Stable and Deutsch will also be represented by multiple graded stakes-placed Ice Chocolat in the Grade 3, $350,000 Poker, a one-mile turf test for older horses on Belmont Stakes Day; while Woodbine maiden-winner French Horn will test her chops in the Listed $150,000 Astoria, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies on June 6.
Rounding out Casse’s Festival competitors are D. J. Stable’s Conman and Barber’s Coinage, who could see action in the $125,000 Kingston, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for older Empire State-bred horses as part of the June 9 New York Showcase Day.
For more information on the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, visit BelmontStakes.com.
