Covello Savoring the Ride with Testa Rossi

Testa Rossi powered to a dominant victory in the Florida Oaks on March 8 at Tampa Bay Downs in her 3-year-old debut. (SV Photography)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
When James Covello joined Goldman Sachs in 2000 and gradually assumed major responsibilities, he received friendly advice that it would be beneficial to find an activity to ease the tensions of his high-pressure, high-stakes position.
Covello played football and baseball during his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University, but he had put away his shoulder pads and glove for good. He decided to explore Thoroughbred racing by joining partnerships operated by West Point Thoroughbreds. He was soon hooked.
“It’s been a turbulent time on Wall Street the last 10 years,” said Covello, 41, who heads the technology research group at Goldman Sachs. “I needed some outlet, and that is what racing has done.”
He finds that race days provide quality time with his wife, Teri, and their three children: Robby, 11; Julia, 9; and Andy, 7.
He increased his enjoyment by hiring Nick Sallusto as his racing manager and bloodstock adviser and developing his own business plan, which revolves primarily on finding opportunities through the private purchase of horses with an eye toward developing stakes winners. He celebrated his first Grade 1 victory when Lilacs and Lace took the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in 2011.
“We will buy horses at a sale,” Covello said. “I prefer to buy horses privately, but it’s a very difficult exercise.”
He made repeated attempts to add to his seven-horse stable this year, only to be turned away. Sometimes the current owner was unwilling to sell. Other times, the price was too high. On other occasions, physical issues surfaced during the veterinary examination.
“It can be frustrating at times,” Covello said. “But when we’ve been able to do it, we’ve had good luck with it.”
He had great luck in landing Testa Rossi, a promising French-bred filly, for an undisclosed price last year as a 2-year-old after she had swept three consecutive starts while sprinting during the summer. She came to the attention of Covello and Sallusto for several reasons.
According to Sallusto, they were initially interested in a colt that was running regularly against Testa Rossi. As they studied the colt, they kept noticing Testa Rossi with her explosive turn of foot. When they learned she was a filly opposing males, a common practice in Europe, their interest heightened.
She also looked to be a good fit in another regard.
“We felt she was exactly the kind of horse we were looking for,” Covello said. “In our search, we look for horses that are doing things they may not want to do. We thought she could go long, but she was sprinting.”
Time was running short since the plan was to point the daughter of Dr Fong to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Sallusto was able to make a deal in fewer than 24 hours, and she was soon winging her way to the United States to be overseen by Chad Brown. Covello is the majority owner at 50 percent with Thomas Coleman and DMZ Racing Stable as partners.
Brown enhanced his reputation as an excellent trainer, particularly of turf horses, with his expert handling of Testa Rossi. She debuted in the U.S. in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo Stakes in October at Belmont Park and won by a nose before moving on to the Juvenile Fillies Turf, where her dramatic late charge allowed her to be a game second.
Covello gives Brown a great deal of credit for immediate success.
“I know how difficult it is to bring a horse over, settle it and get it into a rhythm,” he said. “Chad really has an appreciation for treating each horse as an individual and not trying to force American training onto the horse.”
The swift transition also underscores how good a mind Testa Rossi has.
“The good ones are the good ones,” Sallusto said. “She is the kind of filly who handles it all. We got lucky.”
Testa Rossi made an impressive 3-year-old debut when she rolled to a 3 ½-length victory in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks on March 8 at Tampa Bay Downs.
“She is doing all the things you like to see from two to three,” Brown said after that race.
If she trains well on the synthetic Polytrack surface at Keeneland Race Course, her next target will be the Ashland Stakes at the Lexington track.
“You get to go on a special ride with a horse like this,” said Covello, who is loving every minute of his high-stakes outlet.
TESTA ROSSI WINNING HER U.S. DEBUT IN THE MISS GRILLO
 
Photo by Adam Coglianese/NYRA
 

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