ARCADIA, Calif. - 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 amazing,” trainer Richard Mandella said later in the morning at his stable office. “She went in 33 and one, and it looked like she went in 36.” By comparison, the quickest three-furlong workout at Santa Anita in the preceding 10 days was a 34-second clocking by Cody Boy on Oct. 18. Cody Boy has won 2 of 22 starts, and was fifth of seven in a ratings-based handicap at six furlongs at Santa Anita on Saturday. :: BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more Kopion has won 5 of 9 starts and earned $1,144,700. Of her four stakes wins, two have been in Grade 1 races at seven furlongs – the $301,500 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita last December, and the $1 million Derby City Distaff for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs in May. Smith has the mount on Kopion in the BC Sprint. In the same race, Mandella also plans to start Big City Lights, who will be ridden by Kazushi Kimura. Big City Lights, a five-time stakes winner, has not raced since a win by 7 3/4 lengths in the California Cup Sprint for statebreds at six furlongs on Jan. 18. Kopion’s blazingly quick workout was the most prominent among Breeders’ Cup hopefuls at Santa Anita on Sunday. Straight No Chaser, the champion male sprinter of 2024, worked a half-mile in a relatively slow 49 seconds for the BC Sprint. Trained by Dan Blacker, Straight No Chaser was expected to work alone, but joined a runner trained by Michael McCarthy on the turn. The two were within a length of each through the stretch. Juan Landeros, assistant to Blacker, was aboard Straight No Chaser. “It was not ideal to hook up with company,” Blacker said. “Juan did his job and kept a hold of him and kept him from doing too much.” Straight No Chaser won the 2024 BC Sprint at Del Mar. He finished third by 2 3/4 lengths in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sept. 28 behind Imagination and Dr. Venkman, two other expected runners in the BC Sprint. Straight No Chaser had his third workout since the Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sunday. “He was all-out in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship four weeks ago,” Blacker said. “We’re trying to get his energy back at 100 percent and have him ready for next weekend.” In other works, Explora worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 for Friday’s Grade 1 BC Juvenile Fillies at 1 1/16 miles. “She just cruised,” trainer Bob Baffert said of Explora. Explora won the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes by 4 1/4 lengths at 2-5 at Santa Anita on Oct. 4. Motorious, second by a neck in the BC Turf Sprint at Del Mar in 2024, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20 on Sunday. Trained by Phil D’Amato, Motorious will start in the BC Turf Sprint for the third consecutive year on Saturday, having finished fifth by 1 1/2 lengths in the 2023 running at Santa Anita. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.