Mr. Covello,
Congratulations on the dominant performance of your beautiful filly Testa Rossi. She has lived up to the hype and will hopefully have a say in future Grade 1s this summer and fall.
With that said, I wonder if you and your team had considered entering your filly in the Blue Grass Stakes rather than the Ashland Stakes next month at Keeneland.
The stretch of the 9 furlong Blue Grass would seem to favor Testa Rossi\'s late kick as opposed to the 8.5 furlong Ashland. Of course, 9 furlong races at Kee utilize the entire stretch of the Keeneland track while 8.5 furlong races end in mid-stretch. In years past, this track layout for 8.5 furlong races allow an advantage to front-runners (see the last 6 editions - Emollient, Karlovy Vary, Lilacs and Lace, Evening Jewel, Hooh Why, and Little Belle). Of those six winners, only Little Belle relinquished the lead at any point in the race to my knowledge, and that was late in the race.
Nine furlong races at Keeneland generally favor closers and in the polytrack era, nearly all of the renditions of the BlueGrass have gone to late runners.
Not sure what # she earned with her dominant win at Tampa, but I\'m guessing that a jump up to a TG2 or 3 would be a competitive fig to win a race like the BlueGrass on poly. I would think that might be within Testa Rossi\'s reach with a month of preparation. But, easy for me to say.
I hate to play armchair quarterback, but that\'s part of the fun of interaction with owners, trainers, etc. Good luck with your filly and all of her future endeavors.
