WHITNEY STAKES

For Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, McKinzie's victory in the Aug. 3 Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course was especially satisfying as it demonstrated the 4-year-old's full potential and served as a tribute to his friend, the late racing executive Brad McKinzie.

"He got a proper grade 1 race, as they say in England," Baffert said. "The plan was to get the Met Mile (G1), and maybe this. At least we got one of them. He showed us what he could do. Mike Smith rode him with a lot of confidence. He's got him figured out now.

Stonestreet Farm
"Mike realized you can just sit there and put him anywhere," Baffert explained. "He's got a kick. Usually, our horses, like Justify  or (American) Pharoah, get out there and go. He's not that kind of horse. It's better when you don't have to worry about speed in the race. You can just place him. And he's quick enough to get out of trouble."

Baffert and Pegram decided to name the colt McKinzie while attending the funeral for their friend Brad McKinzie, who served in various capacities at Los Alamitos Race Course before his death in 2017 at age 62.

"We were sitting there and people were telling stories about Brad," Baffert said. "Brad was a really funny guy. We were sitting there, they were telling stories. Mike Pegram, the owner with Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, said, 'You know what? We need to name a good horse after Brad.' I said, 'I think I've got one. I've got a Street Sense colt. I think he's pretty good. I've got good reports.'

"We didn't know if we were going to call him Big Brad or McKinzie. We thought 'McKinzie' has got a stronger name. I think Brad would have preferred McKinzie. I actually think he got a little bit faster once we named him."

Baffert said he wants to give McKinzie one more start before the Breeders' Cup in November at Santa Anita Park.

"I would like to get maybe one run," Baffert said. "I don't know where. (The Breeders' Cup) is a long ways off. I think I would run him one time."

NYBREDS
Covfefe 'Fantastic' After Thrilling Test Victory
LNJ Foxwoods' Covfefe emerged from her first grade 1 triumph in Saturday's Longines Test Stakes (G1) in good order, allowing trainer Brad Cox to set another lofty goal for his star filly.

"This has been the goal with her for a long time, since the start of the year, to get her to this point. Mission accomplished," Cox said Sunday morning. "I guess the goal now would probably be the Breeders' Cup, but how we get there I don't know. We don't have to figure that out for a while. We'll come up with a game plan for her. I'm very pleased with how she came out of the race."

Cox said he was impressed with Covfefe's attitude both the night and morning following her hard-fought victory over grade 1 winner Serengeti Empress.

"She's doing great, really good. She looked fantastic this morning. Actually, to run as fast as she did, she wasn't stressed at all after the race," Cox said. "She's a gifted filly. We learned a lot about her yesterday. There was still a little question mark going in if she was capable of getting seven-eighths, but with the proper trip, she showed that she can do it. It was a super effort by two very nice fillies and two huge efforts. It was a huge battle. It was awesome."

Covfefe will remain at Saratoga until mid-August, when she is scheduled to return to Cox's main string at Churchill Downs.

"We'll give her an opportunity to relax and settle in here and recover. I think there's a plane going back on the 13th, so that's probably when she'll go back to Churchill," Cox said. "We won't shut her down or anything, but she'll do some light training."