Cox in no rush to make plans for Covfefe

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – At the beginning of the year, trainer Brad Cox made the Test his goal for Covfefe and the daughter of Into Mischief achieved it Saturday, outfinishing the Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress to win the race Grade 1 fixture for 3-yearold fillies by a half-length.

Now, Cox said Sunday, he is in no hurry to come up with a plan for Covfefe’s next start.

“We put a lot into her to get ready for this race, I’m just going to take a deep breath, I’m going to let Covfefe take a deep breath,” Cox said. “This was the goal.”

Cox felt Covfefe benefited from being on the outside of Serengeti Empress during a battle that began just before the quarter pole and lasted through the last quarter-mile.

“She had to dig in, had a great trip pressing as opposed to being pressed and she responded well,” Cox said. “She can get seven-eighths. We always thought she was a Grade 1 filly and she is now.”

Cox said he will tentatively make the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 the late-season goal “and work our way back. We haven’t come up with a plan and we don’t have to finalize one.”

Covfefe, who earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 98 for her win in the Test, will likely stay in Saratoga until Aug. 13. She is now 3 for 4 this year with an 8 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness on May 17 in which she set a Pimlico track record running seven furlongs in 1:07.70.

Tom Amoss said Serengeti Empress came out of the Test in good shape and she will be shipped to Churchill Downs later this week. Amoss said he would point Serengeti Empress to the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 21. The Cotillion, at 1 1/16 miles, is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2.

“I think it’s a logical race,” Amoss said “It’s a Win and You’re In, carries a major purse and our horse’s versatility makes it an easy transition as well. The hope is we can use her speed as a weapon in this race.”

Arnold has big day upcoming

Trainer Rusty Arnold will be a busy man on Sept. 7, with horses to run in stakes at Belmont Park and Kentucky Downs.

Arnold plans to run Concrete Rose at Belmont Park in the $750,000 Jockey Club Oaks, the third and final leg of the New York Racing Association’s Turf Tiara for 3-year-old fillies. At Kentucky Downs, he will have Leinster for the Grade 3, $700,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint and Morticia for the Grade 3, $500,000 Ladies Sprint at 6 1/2 furlongs.

“It’s a very good problem to have. We’ll figure out how to work it out,” Arnold said.

Concrete Rose was allowed to have things her own way on the front end in Friday’s Saratoga Oaks, winning by 4 3/4 lengths for her fourth consecutive victory and sixth in seven starts. She earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. Concrete Rose also won the Belmont Oaks on July 6.

“It would be a horrible thing not to try all three of them,” Arnold said. “This is where we’re going unless something goes wrong. We don’t see it coming the way she came back.”

Leinster pulled a mild upset winning Saturday’s Grade 3 Troy by three-quarters of a length. Leinster, a half-brother to two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Stormy Liberal, is now 3 for 3 in turf sprints.

Arnold said he ran Leinster in the Troy in part to try and get enough graded stakes earnings to get into the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint.

“Once he went to sprinting on the turf, he turned into a different horse,” Arnold said.

Leinster earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure for the Troy effort while setting a new course record of 1:00.23 for 5 1/2 furlongs.

A Thread of Blue has options

A Thread of Blue, upset winner of Sunday’s $1 million Saratoga Derby, could try and stretch out to 1 1/2 miles in the $1 million Jockey Club Derby at Belmont on Sept. 7.

A Thread of Blue got loose on the lead in the Saratoga Derby and was able to hold off Digital Age by a length. He covered 1 3/16 miles under Luis Saez in 1:52.02 and earned a career-best 95 Beyer.

McLaughlin said Monday that A Thread of Blue came out of the Saratoga Derby in good order and would consider the Jockey Club Derby as well as the Grade 2 Hill Prince going 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 5 at Belmont.

McLaughlin said he did not have a definitive plan for Lucullan, who won Saturday’s Lure Stakes by a nose over Sacred Life. McLaughlin feels the Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch on Sept. 2 could be too close, but will take a wait-andsee attitude before deciding what’s next.

DEBRA A. ROMA Covfefe has the BC Filly and Mare Sprint as a tentative goal.