Miss Cofer Kop

In the early 80's I was at Las Alamitos watching a mare I owned in a race there. While I was there, I saw a big brown stud colt on a walker. I inquired about him, breeding and price, but let it go at that. After I got home, I couldn't quit thinking about the colt. After about a week I got on the phone and made arrangements to buy him and pay on time, and he was on his way to Idaho. I didn't know until he got here that his name was Keystone Kop. He had had a less than average race career, but was extremely good looking and from an excellent family.

His second year at stud, things were looking pretty good when a friend of mine wanted to breed three mares, one was a real average looking but well bred palomino mare. When the mares foaled, it was evident that the little palomino mare was not an average producer. That summer, every time someone came around, I would take them to see this little brown filly.

One day Don priced her to me for $750, which I thought was a steal. So I started trying to sell her for him. Every time I showed her to someone they liked her, but it was the same old story; I already got to many horses, or I'm too broke to buy another horse. After several different times, one day I told Bonnie, the next time I take someone down there and they don't buy that filly, I'm going to. Of course you can guess what she said, "that's what you need, another horse". However in about a week it happened, and the filly was mine. Her name was Miss Cofer Kop.

When she was a long yearling and still a little small we started breaking her, to find out she was small in stature, but that's all. The next spring, in her two year old year, we did the standard thing for that period in time. We put her in a couple of small futurities and headed towards them.

The first time we worked her away from the gates flat we new she was a little special. Her first race, a maiden race at Pocatello Downs, she won by three lengths. Then it was off to Boise to the High Country Futurity trials. She won her trial by two lengths and was by far the fastest qualifier. She got a 98 speed rating. In the finals a week later she got wiped out and ran third.

Then it was on to Jerome for the futurity there. The trials there was a repeat, but no looking back in the finals. She broke a little late but they left her running room and run she did, beating them a good length. Then we shipped her to California to try her luck there. She ran some good races there but only won one allowance race before chipping a knee.

I bred her to a Dash For Cash horse and shipped her home to Idaho. Her first colt died at birth and the second one died shortly before it was old enough to wean. We just didn't get this colt raising thing. For her third colt we had bred her to a T.B. horse, but found out that they were more cowy than racy. She had three colts by this T.B. horse and then I decided I wanted to try something else.

I hauled her to Utah to a Wiescamp horse, Skips Double Lena. From this mating I got an outstanding sorrel filly, so I took her back to try again, still hoping for some color. This time I got a bay stud colt. I just couldn't get the color thing right, but I liked the colts so well, I leased the stud and hauled him to Idaho. The next time I got bay filly.

This is about the time of Wiescamp Dispersal. We went, knowing we wouldn't be able to buy anything, but wanting to look. However we did buy something. A Wiescamp stud of our own, Sports Adventure.

Shortly after getting him home I joined the Shoemaker Skipper W Group and also had a stroke. When I was reading a news letter I decided that Rolando's must have bought the mother to my horse. I got on the phone to talk to them, but I found out it was her full sister. While talking to Rebecca we did some trading, and I decided to haul Miss Cofer Kop to breed to Quasar Skip after she foaled.

Next spring Cofer had a buckskin stud colt. Starting to learn about this color thing. And we were off to Colorado. The next spring Cofer foundered a couple weeks before she foaled. We babied her along and when she foaled it was evident that she mastered the color thing too. She had a Grullo stud colt. When the colt was 2 1/2 months old she foundered again and died.

She and Keystone are buried in front of my barn. We didn't get to breed her to Sport, but her two daughters both have outstanding foals by him, and we plan on keeping the Grullo stud colt and trying him.

Cliff Schvaneveldt