Hugo Palmer has big plans in mind this year for his stable star Covert Love (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) as he begins to map out a plan of attack for the dual Group 1 winning filly. One of the surprise packages of 2015 in that she only broke her maiden at Chelmsford in May before running up a four-race winning sequence that included the G1 Darley Irish Oaks. Narrowly beaten by Pleascach (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks, the 4-year-old added her second Group 1 win with a tenacious victory in the G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines at Longchamp on Arc day. Her regular pilot Pat Smullen has described her as a “big rangy filly,” one that should continue to improve as she fills her frame and her trainer also feels definite improvement is on the cards. “I don't want to tempt fate with her, but she looks like a totally different filly from last year. She has done better than any other horse I've seen over the winter,” said Palmer.
Having proved herself over the course already Palmer is keen to point Covert Love back towards Longchamp in October, this time for the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. “The race I want to win is the Arc and that's the dream. When you have a filly like this you have to think big,” said the Newmarket trainer. Palmer thinks her current rating puts her bang in the mix and if her physical development translates into improvement on the racecourse then Palmer feels anything is possible with the FOMO syndicate owned star. “The big thing is she is rated 116 and with the allowances she would get, she would only have to find around a length with Jack Hobbs and the way she looks, you certainly wouldn't bet against her finding it. It's exciting when you get a filly like this. They can either just be a filly competitive at taking on the fillies or one capable of taking on the colts, like Ouija Board. We are hoping she is a Ouija Board type.”
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