Covfefe (foaled February 22, 2016) is a retired American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse who won two Eclipse Awards in 2019 as the

American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly The American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both ...

and

American Champion Female Sprint Horse The American Champion Sprint Female Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to the top female horse in sprint races usually run at a distance of 6 or 7 furlongs. This category honoring female sprinters became pa ...

. She won five of six starts that year including the

Test Stakes The Test Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race open to three-year-old fillies and run each summer at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is contested at a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt and is an influentia ...

and the

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint is a 7-furlong (1408 m) Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred fillies and mares three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year- ...

. She also broke the

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

track record for six furlongs by over a second in the Miss Preakness.

Background

Covfefe is a bay filly with a large white blaze who was bred in Kentucky by Alexander-Groves Thoroughbreds. Her sire is

Into Mischief Into Mischief (foaled March 28, 2005) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. During his racing career, he won three of six starts including the CashCall Futurity. Since his retirement, he has developed into an outstanding s ...

, who won the

Los Alamitos Futurity The Los Alamitos Futurity is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-olds run over a distance of one and one sixteenth miles ( furlongs) on the dirt held annually in early December at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, California ...

then developed into an outstanding sire, known primarily for his sprinters like

Goldencents Goldencents (foaled March 7, 2010) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning consecutive runnings of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. As a two-year-old he ran three times, winning the Delta Jackpot Stakes and finishing second in ...

and

Practical Joke A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...

. Covfefe was Into Mischief's top earner in 2019 when he earned the title of

leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading Father, sire of Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to Stallio ...

. Covfefe is out of Antics by Unbridled. Antics is from a distinguished female family that traces to Courtly Dee, the 1983

Kentucky Broodmare of the Year The Kentucky Broodmare of the Year is selected each year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. The title is considered the highest honor an American thoroughbred broodmare can receive, as the majority of American breeding s ...

. The family has produced multiple stakes winners including

Arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

, Althea, Acoma and Japanese champion Yamamin Paradise. Covfefe was sold as a yearling at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale for $250,000 to Alex Solis and Jason Litt acting as agents for LNJ Foxwoods. The stable is owned by Larry, Nanci and Jaime Roth, and is run by Jaime Roth. Covfefe was trained by Brad Cox, who also trained the champion three-year-old filly of 2018,

Monomoy Girl Monomoy Girl (foaled March 26, 2015) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 2018 and Champion Older Female Horse of 2020. She showed very promising form as a juvenile in 2017 when she wo ...

. In a play on the names of her sire and dam, Covfefe is named after a viral tweet from 2017 by

President-elect of the United States The president-elect of the United States is the candidate who has presumptively won the United States presidential election and is awaiting inauguration to become the president. There is no explicit indication in the U.S. Constitution as to wh ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

Racing career

2018: two-year-old season

Covfefe made her debut on September 16, 2018, in a maiden special weight race over six furlongs at Churchill Downs. Despite her lack of experience, she was the heavy favorite at odds of 1–2. She went to the early lead, running the first quarter-mile in 22.34 seconds and the half in 46.52. Entering the stretch, she started to open up her lead and won by lengths. For her next start on October 7, Covfefe was stepped sharply up in class to the

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Frizette Stakes The Frizette Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies raced annually at Belmont Park in October. It is currently a Grade I stakes race at a distance of one mile. The Frizette is the female counterpart of the Champagn ...

at Belmont Park. She was bumped at the start and struggled for early position, then was carried four wide around the turn. She closed to within one length of Jaywalk at the head of the stretch but then faded to finish a well beaten fourth.

2019: three-year-old season

Covfefe made her three-year-old debut on April 6, 2019, at Keeneland in an allowance race over furlongs. She broke slowly from post position one and was hustled to the lead, completing the first quarter-mile in 22.10 seconds. Take Charge Angel tracked her in second place, a half length behind as they turned into the stretch. Covfefe started to open up the lead but Take Charge Angel started closing in the final furlong. Covfefe held her off to win by half a length in a time of 1:16.84. On May 17, Covfefe won the Miss Preakness Stakes by lengths in front-running fashion while setting a track record of 1.07.70 for six furlongs at

. "I know she's a good filly, and she's just a superfast horse," said jockey Javier Castellano. "It didn't surprise me the way she performed today. I felt we were going fast, but (going in 1:07) didn't go through my mind once." She finished third though in her next start in the Roxelana Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs after entering in an early speed duel with Mia Mischief and tiring in the final furlong. On August 3, Covfefe returned to Grade I company in the

at Saratoga over a distance of seven furlongs. She was the third betting choice behind Bellafina (

Chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...

Santa Anita Oaks Santa Anita Oaks is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to three-year-old fillies willing to race 8.5 furlongs ( miles) on the dirt. The race is a Grade II even ...

) and Serengeti Empress (

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Frida ...

). She tracked the early pace set by Serengeti Empress while racing wide around the turn. The two fillies dueled down the stretch as Covfefe inched her way ahead to win by half a length. "I knew when we turned for home," said Cox, "we were going to get as good a Covfefe as we could get at this point of the year. I knew when she turned for home, she wasn't going to give in today." "It was the kind of race that the fans were hoping for," said Tom Amoss, the trainer of Serengetti Empress. "For myself personally — I wish it had gone the other way — what a great stretch duel. We got beat by a wonderful performance by our opponent, Covfefe." To prepare for the upcoming Breeders' Cup, Covfefe entered the Dogwood Stakes on September 21 at Churchill Downs. She was the heavy favorite at odds of 1–5 in a field of six. She stalked the early pace set by Take Charge Angel, then made her move turning for home. She drew off down the stretch to win by eight lengths in a time of 1:20.51, a new stakes record and just 0.07 seconds off the track record set by Groupie Doll. "She's definitely the most talented horse LNJ has ever owned," said Jaime Roth. "She's so special to us and such a talent. The only bad race she's ever run was in the Frizette last year, but that was a big ask that day in that spot. She's just very special." Covfefe made her final start of the year in the

at Santa Anita on November 2. She was the 3-2 favorite in a field of nine that included Grade I winners Come Dancing, Bellafina and Spiced Perfection. She settled in third place, a few lengths behind the early pace set by Danuska's My Girl and Heavenhasmynikki. Turning into the stretch, she started to make up ground while splitting between horses. She opened a lead of lengths in mid-stretch then held off a late run by Bellafina to win by three-quarters of a length. "Coming out of the one hole, there were a couple horses that showed more speed out of there," said jockey

Joel Rosario Joel Rosario (born January 14, 1985) is a Dominican jockey who mainly competes in American thoroughbred horse racing, originally from the Dominican Republic. In the space of five weeks in 2013 he rode the winners of the Dubai World Cup and the Ke ...

. "I was able to work my way out rom the railand get her in the clear. After that, she did all the work." Covfefe was named the

and

of 2019. She is the first horse to win both these honors in the same year. Cox cited her performance in the Miss Preakness, where she broke the track record by over a second, as one of her best performances. "I'll never forget standing in the grandstand, looking at the fractions, and thinking... and then listening to Dave Rodman's call of the race. I think he used the term 'super filly,'" he said. "It was amazing to watch, but watching her train leading up to that last year, it was believable. She's special."

Retirement

As part of LNJ Foxwood's focus on building up a breeding operation, Covfefe was retired in February 2020 and now resides at

Gainesway Farm Gainesway Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding business in Lexington, Kentucky. It was originally called Greentree Stables, Greentree Farms. The 1,500-acre (6 km2) property has been home to stallions such as Youth (horse), Youth a ...

. She was bred to

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

in 2020.

Statistics

An asterisk after the odds means Covfefe was the post-time favorite.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist 2016 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family A4 Eclipse Award winners Horse racing track record setters Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winners