There are quick workouts and there is the effort the 4-year-old filly Kopion displayed at Santa Anita on Sunday. A four-time stakes winner, Kopion worked three furlongs in 33.20 seconds under jockey Mike Smith in advance of a first start against males in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar. “That was pretty […]
Spendthrift Farm’s two-time Grade 1-winning filly Kopion will be taking on males in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), trainer Richard Mendella told Daily Racing Form’s Brad Free. Originally, Kopion was pre-entered for the seven-furlong Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), in which she was tabbed as the early 2-1 favorite, but Mandella opted for the six-furlong […]
Owner-breeder Ivan Dalos, Eclipse champion Ghostzapper, and trainer Mike Doyle were among the 2025 inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Mississauga Convention Center in suburban Toronto on Wednesday night. Thoroughbred builder inductee Ivan Dalos has been a successful owner-breeder for nearly 50 years. His Tall Oaks Farm […]
Leading into the first Saturday in May, the Beyer Speed Figure benchmark for the year hadn’t been set by one of the star 3-year-olds in the nation, but by the 4-year-old California campaigner Kopion (f, 4, Omaha Beach–Galloping Ami, by Victory Gallop), who closed out her 2024 season as a surprise 37-1 victress in the GI La […]
For almost 50 years, 2025 Thoroughbred Builder inductee Ivan Dalos has been part of the Canadian Thoroughbred industry, establishing himself as one of Canada’s most successful owner/breeders. After claiming his first racehorse in 1978, with a dream to become a breeder of champions, his Tall Oaks Farm was born. Learning everything he could about pedigrees […]
Kopion reminds trainer Richard Mandella of her sire, multiple grade 1 winner Omaha Beach. The ease with which the 4-year-old filly captured the Feb. 1 Santa Monica Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park certainly bolstered the opinion of the Hall of Famer who trained them both. Read More
When Kopion returned from a near nine-month layoff Dec. 26 to pull off a 37-1 upset in the seven-furlong La Brea Stakes (G1) Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park, she not only earned her first grade 1 victory but also cemented herself as a leading member on the long honor roll of horses bred by […]
Spendthrift Farm, forced to scratch Grade I winner Tamara (Bolt d’Oro) with an elevated temperature Thursday morning, had a more than suitable understudy in the afternoon’s GI La Brea Stakes when Kopion (Omaha Beach) romped home a geared-down 2 3/4-length winner at Santa Anita. Returning from nine months on the sidelines and dismissed at 35-1, […]
After a series of different distances on different surfaces, Authentic Gallop finally ditched the maiden label in a big way for his connections Dec. 13 at Oaklawn Park. A son of 2020 Horse of the Year Authentic , whose first crop of 2-year-olds are beginning to pick up momentum late in the year, Authentic Gallop […]
A pair of dazzling maiden winners, Kopion, bred in Kentucky by Toronto’s Ivan Dalos, and Kinza, stretch out and head a competitive field of five sophomore fillies and mares going one mile on the main track in Saturday’s Grade III, $100,000 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita. (Originally scheduled to be run this past Sunday, […]