Kopion turns in strong work ahead of Great Lady M.
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Kopion, the nation’s leading female sprinter, worked six furlongs in 1:12.20 at Santa Anita on Thursday in preparation for the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 5.
Kopion worked alone in an training run that trainer Richard Mandella described as “nice stuff.”
“I couldn’t be happier” with her, Mandella said.
Kopion will be a strong favorite to win the $200,000 Great Lady M. Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs. Since returning from an eight-month break last December, Kopion has won three stakes, all at seven furlongs: the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita in December, the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes against fillies and mares at Santa Anita in February, and a commanding win by three lengths in the Grade 1, $1 million Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs on May 3.
Owned by Spendthrift Farm, Kopion has won 5 of 7 starts and earned $1,024,700.
The Great Lady M. Stakes is the richest stakes of the ongoing Los Alamitos meeting, which runs through July 6. Other leading candidates for the race are Sweet Azteca, who won the 2024 running but has not raced since a fourth behind One Magic Philly in the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita last October. One Magic Philly is another expected starter in the Great Lady M.
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