The breeding community lost a friend and asset last week. Annette Covault, of Lexington, died Friday, Dec. 13, from complications of ill health that she had dealt with for several years. She was 72.
As the booking secretary for Claiborne Farm first and then Gainesway Farm over several decades, Covault, known to her familiars as "Netto," provided common sense and good humor to breeders and farm managers working through the prickly process of getting mares booked to stallions in a timely manner.
The stallion veterinarian at Gainesway from 2008-2019, Rocky Mason, DVM, noted that, "Annette elevated the horse industry; she was a consummate professional. With witty quips on the latest New Yorker article, she was always charming to be near. Annette looked after me like I was family, an attribute not celebrated enough in this world."
Born in Fletcher, Ohio, Covault did not come from horse people. After graduating college, Covault moved to Kentucky in the mid-1970s, where she initially took a job with The Thoroughbred Record magazine. The publication and its printing press were both located on North Broadway in Lexington, in a little colony of racing and breeding people.
Heeding the call of her favorite horse, Secretariat, Covault moved her tack to Claiborne Farm.
"Mrs. Downing was looking to retire, I seem to recall," said Claiborne's Dell Hancock, "and Annette came in to take her place. Mrs. Downing thought a lot of her and described Annette this way: 'Annette's a Brahmin' " (member of the highest class).
"She was a dedicated person, and she worked hard," said Seth Hancock. "She dedicated her life to the work she was engaged in doing."
Dedicated, competitive, and yet with a streak of humor, Annette was recalled in this story from Dell Hancock: "After Swale won the Kentucky Derby, we were standing around and feeling pretty good, and John Sosby said, 'I think I'm responsible for Swale because I take care of the farm.' Then the broodmare manager said, 'I'm responsible because I took care of the mares.'
"Then the foaling man said, 'I was responsible for him because I foaled the mare.'
"Then Annette said, 'Well, there wouldn't have been a Swale if I hadn't booked that mare on the right day.' She thought she had trumped everyone with that.
"But then Dr. Kaufmann said, 'I knew him when he was just a follicle.' "
Good humor helps to leaven a world of situations, including those that arise on a horse farm and with horse people.
Dealing with legendary breeders, such as the Whitneys, Alfred Vanderbilt, William Haggin Perry, and the Phippses, and working around horses such as her beloved Secretariat, leading sires Nijinsky II, Hoist the Flag, Danzig, and Mr. Prospector, Covault developed a cordial working relationship with these and many other owners and breeders involved in the daily process of breeding championship-quality racing stock year after year.
After Claiborne, Covault became booking secretary to Gainesway Farm, and in her decades-long specialty, Covault combined the delicate mix of qualities required of the position: uncommon diplomatic tact and a salty sense of humor.
"Annette brought a great reputation and years of experience to Gainesway," said Michael Hernon, who was in charge of selling seasons at Gainesway at the time. "She was my cherished friend. Her word was her bond."
Dr. Dede McGehee, horse breeder and owner of Heaven Trees Farm, summarized her experience: "Annette, she was the best."
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
