Kopion to get break after shin issues

ARCADIA, Calif. – It turns out Kopion had an alibi for finishing a distant fourth in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on April 6. Kopion, winner of the Grade 3 seven-furlong Santa Ynez and runner-up in the Grade 3 Las Virgenes at one mile, lost the Santa Anita Oaks by 16 lengths as the 2.30-1 second choice.

Trainer Richard Mandella said Kopion “came out of the race and appeared perfectly sound, but we scanned her and her shin bones lit up. They were aching a little bit, remodeling, growing-up stuff.”

“We’re going to give her a little break, put it off to Del Mar,” Mandella said.

Kopion has won two races and $134,600 from four starts.

Meanwhile, Mandella-trained Tamara continues to progress toward her comeback. Winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante last year, Tamara sustained a splint injury and finished seventh as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Tamara, sired by Bolt d’Oro and produced by Beholder, posted her second three-furlong breeze, and fourth work in her pattern, on Monday. She is likely to be ready to run by early June.

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