Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Graceful Princess, Covfefe top Frizette field
ELMONT, N.Y. – In their debuts, Covfefe proved she is more than just a cleverly named filly while Graceful Princess showed there is more to her than just a fancy pedigree.
Sunday, the pair of impressive 2-year-old fillies head a field of eight entered to run a mile in the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette at Belmont Park. The Frizette offers a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs.
Covfefe, a daughter of Into Mischief out of the Unbridled mare Antics, is owned by Larry, Nanci, and Jaime Roth, who race under the moniker L N J Foxwoods. They named the filly after an incoherent tweet sent out by President Donald Trump in May 2017 that ended with “covfefe.”
The filly debuted Sept. 16 at Churchill and ran an absolute monster race, speeding clear to a 9 1/4-length win while covering six furlongs in 1:10.20. She earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure.
“Very talented filly, she didn’t disappoint us. We thought she was capable of winning first time out,” trainer Brad Cox said. “We thought a lot of her going into the race. She’s very fast and has a good mind.”
Cox said Covfefe’s disposition is going to be key if she is going to be able to stretch out in distance. Cox said he chose the Frizette over Friday’s Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland because he felt the one-turn mile with a field of eight was a better progression than trying her two turns and 1 1/16 miles in a full field of 14.
“I just think with her having only one race, it made a little more sense than the Alcibiades right now,” Cox said.
Covfefe will break from post 6 under Javier Castellano.
One stall to her inside will be Graceful Princess, a daughter of Tapit out of the mare Havre de Grace, the 2011 Horse of the Year. Graceful Princess debuted Sept. 2 at Saratoga and scored a 1 3/4-length frontrunning victory while covering seven furlongs in 1:23.58. She earned a 71 Beyer.
“I was happy with her first race The speed she showed could have been a little more than we expected, but we were pleased with the effort,” said Ralph Nicks, who trains Graceful Princess for Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm.
Nicks said Graceful Princess took a while to come around mentally, but he and his staff, including assistant trainer Heather Smullen, believe the race has moved her forward in that regard.
“She’s in good form mentally and she’s grown some, too,” Nicks said. “She’s a lot more settled than she was at Saratoga.”
Graceful Princess and Covfefe look to possess the most early speed of this group, and it’ll be interesting to see how the race is run.
Trainer Barclay Tagg would like to see a contested pace for his uncoupled pair of Brucia La Terra and Cassies Dreamer.
Brucia La Terra won an offthe-turf maiden race by 3 3/4 lengths Aug. 12 at Saratoga. Tagg claimed Cassies Dreamer for $50,000 out of a debut victory Aug. 3 and ran her back in the Grade 1 Spinaway, where she rallied from last after a poor break to finish third in an 11-horse field.
“She came out in a tangle,” Tagg said. “We thought she’d be sitting right there and then come with it.”
Cassies Dreamer and Brucia La Terra have been breezing together at Belmont. On Sept. 22, they went five furlongs in 59 seconds.
Robin Smullen, assistant to Tagg, noted that Brucia La Terra used to be a bit nervous.
“These last three weeks, she’s really turned the corner,” Smullen said. “She’s gotten to where she’s not nervous anymore.”
Sue’s Fortune stepped out of a New York-bred maiden victory to win the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes on Aug 11 at Saratoga. She is trained by Jeremiah Englehart, who also will send out Take Me to Hardoon, a debut winner Sept. 2 at Saratoga.
Nonna Madeline beat Jaywalk in a maiden race at Monmouth Park in June. Nonna Madeline has run second and fifth in two graded stakes since. Jaywalk won a maiden race at Parx Racing and a listed sprint stakes at Delaware.