Covello Weighing Dirt Mile for River Rocks

For every big-name contender expected to arrive at the Breeders' Cup World Championships every season, there are several whose connections agonize over the decision to send them there. How will a runner handle the step up in class? Is shipping an issue? What if the potential starter still needs to be nominated as a horse of racing age? What if all three questions must be answered?

James Covello and his partners are currently weighing the chance to compete on Thoroughbred racing's biggest stage with stakes-placed River Rocks, a runner they believe is on the upswing, against the risks they would take to put him in the toughest race of his career—the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. I).

"I'm literally losing sleep over this decision," Covello said Oct. 8, with the hours ticking down to the Oct. 20 pre-entry deadline. "It's a super high-class problem to have, and we feel very lucky we're in this situation. On the one hand, obviously, to supplement costs money and we'd be running against the very best horses in the world. There's the risk of the ship and the new surface and we're balancing that against running in the (Oct. 25) Bold Ruler (gr. III) at Belmont which is a track we know he loves at a distance we know he loves against competition he should be able to handle.

"But as we all know it's not always about having the best horse in the race—it's about having the horse that is doing the best at that particular time. And our horse is just doing so well, at the end of the day that's what I keep coming back to. It's a million dollar race he could legitimately compete in, and it's hard not to give that a lot of weight."

River Rocks, a 4-year-old Florida-bred by Western Pride, has never won a stakes race. But he looked grade I winner Itsmyluckyday   in the eye in the Sept. 27 Kelso Handicap (gr. II) and put him away while setting a lively pace in the one-mile event before getting run down by Vyjack in the final strides. His past three races were straight wins in allowance company going six to seven furlongs for Covello and his fellow owners, Michael Imperio and Half Hollow Racing.

Covello, a 41-year-old partner at Goldman Sachs, is an avid user of the Thoro-Graph figures and has charted River Rocks' progress compared to the competition he would face in the Breeders' Cup. He said the horse measures up more than adequately—in fact, he is consistently running numbers that hold up to those given to some of his top rivals.

That includes 2013 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Goldencents  , who is expected to return to defend his title off a narrow runner-up finish to Hong Kong challenger Rich Tapestry in the Oct. 4 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (gr. I).

Covello made it to the Breeders' Cup last year with Thomas Coleman and DMZ Racing Stable to run 10-1 shot Testa Rossi in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (gr. IT). She finished second, 2 1/2 lengths behind European invader Chriselliam, and "we were running all over Santa Anita like we'd won," Covello recalled.

It was a far better finish than Oscar Party, Covello's first Breeders' Cup starter with several partners. She ran in the same race's 2012 edition but was 14th.

"The Breeders' Cup is something—along with the Kentucky Derby—we think about every year," the owner remarked. "The Breeders Cup is really special to me. It is a definite goal."

That Covello already made it to the Breeders' Cup with two starters and is contemplating a third is made even more remarkable by the size of his stable—currently just seven runners. His past successes include 2011 Ashland (gr. I) winner Lilacs and Lace, multiple grade III winner Swift Warrior, and an early partnership in grade III winner Falling Sky. 

"We have a small stable but Nick Salusto, our bloodstock agent and racing manager, does an amazing job," Covello explained. "We generally buy horses in training and Nick has picked out every one of those horses."

River Rocks was one, purchased privately after breaking his maiden in October 2012 at Calder for trainer Michael Yates and breeder Shadybrook Farm. He raced first under the supervision of Wayne Catalano, but after returning from a break from May to November of 2013, was transferred to John Terranova II. After another break from November to June, River Rocks cranked out three straight wins and the Kelso second.

"We loved way this horse broke his maiden down at Calder; he actually had some shins and just baby stuff, it took us a while to get him perfectly right," Covello said. "Another racing manager probably would have tried to run this horse in big races too soon, but Nick and John Terranova were so patient to build him up. We like to be able to take them through their conditions and have a solid foundation under them."

That patient approach was what kept River Rocks from making the step up earlier this season.

"We came really close to running him in the (Aug. 30) Forego (gr. I) because we've believed for a long time that he was this quality of horse," Covello said. "But we wanted to give him one more foundation-builder.

"For the Kelso, he was running faster Thoro-Graph numbers than Itsmyluckyday, and we knew we'd get a little weight break. I feel like the horse is such an interesting horse because he goes :22 and change and :25 naturally. After his second allowance win at Saratoga this summer, Rajiv Maragh got off and said, 'This horse isn't only a sprinter. He just goes that fast naturally and then he can stay on.'

"That's what makes him so dangerous going seven furlongs to a mile—if anybody wants to go with him, most horses have to be used, and that's the idea with the Dirt Mile, he could go out there and go :22 and stay on like he did in the Kelso."

It would cost $100,000 to nominate River Rocks to the Dirt Mile, plus a $10,000 fee due at pre-entry and a $10,000 fee due at the actual time of entry Oct. 27. The nomination lasts for the rest of his career and makes Covello and his team eligible for the awards issued to nominators of Breeders' Cup winners. A decision is pending this weekend.

"We're going to breeze this weekend and if he breezes well I think it would be hard not to go," Covello said.

But even if River Rocks makes his way to Santa Anita Oct. 31, Covello won't be there.

"You know, the Breeders' Cup doesn't do anybody any favors with this running on Halloween thing," he said, half serious, half joking. "My kids have a lot of fun things they do with school and the neighborhood, and last year I missed their Halloween to run Testa Rossi, so this year I'm staying home regardless. I can't look my 7-year-old in the eye and tell him I won't be there for Halloween."

For a dad who has his priorities straight, if he heads to the starting gate River Rocks could deliver the upset for the ultimate trick-or-treat.