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 […]
As he made the walk down the Churchill Downs tunnel, pausing briefly to accept congratulations from some of his Hall of Fame comrades, Richard Mandella came to halt outside of the entrance to the winner’s circle and openly wondered ‘Where am I supposed to go?’” It was a genuine query given that the Hall of […]
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, […]
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, […]
Spendthrift stallion Omaha Beach got the first graded win of his nascent sire career with a blowout victory by Kopion (f, 3, Omaha Beach–Galloping Ami, by Victory Gallop) in Santa Anita’s GIII Santa Ynez S. Sunday. Three of the four fillies in the gate were by first-crop sires, but it was the least experienced of […]
With stablemate and fellow Spendthrift Farm color bearer Tamara on the sidelines, Kopion took advantage of her own chance to shine with a 5 3/4-length romp in the $100,000 Santa Ynez Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park. Kopion made her debut in November well after Tamara had raced to victory in the Del Mar Debutante […]
1st-Del Mar, $61,500, Msw, 11-26, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:16.13, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. KOPION (f, 2, Omaha Beach–Galloping Ami {Outstanding Broodmare-Can}, by Victory Gallop) did not disappoint her backers who made her the 1-5 favorite for this debut. The $270,000 Keeneland September buy trailed towards the rear of the field as a pair showed […]