Mandella mapping out route for Kopion to get to Breeders' Cup

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella has worked out a firm plan to get the 4-year-old filly Kopion to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1 from his stable’s base at Santa Anita, east of Los Angeles.

“We’ll take the 210 down to the 57 and hook into the 5,” he said on Monday morning.

Yes, Mandella is well-versed on Southern California freeways. He has also turned Kopion into a star sprint filly, emphasized by her three-length win in Saturday’s Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at seven furlongs at Churchill Downs.

Kopion, who races for Spendthrift Farm, won her third consecutive stakes in the $1 million Derby City Distaff against the best field of female sprinters since the BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar last November.

Ridden by Kazushi Kimura, Kopion, the 5-2 second choice, closed from sixth of 10 to take the lead in the final furlong. The style of the win was slightly different than Kopion’s two preceding victories at Santa Anita, also in seven-furlong races – the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in December and her first start against older fillies and mares in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes on Feb. 1.

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In those wins, Kopion raced within a length of the front throughout.

On Monday, Mandella said Kopion will be raced sparingly in the build-up to the Breeders’ Cup. Kopion will be considered for two seven-furlong stakes at Saratoga in coming months – the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses Stakes, a $300,000 race on June 6, and the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 23. The winner of the $500,000 Ballerina Stakes receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

“I might pick one of those,” Mandella said. “What else before and after, I’m not sure. We need to get her home and get her galloping.”

From a local standpoint, the options include the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 5, and the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 24. Those races are run at 6 1/2 furlongs and are worth $200,000 and $100,000, respectively.

Kopion, by Omaha Beach, has won 5 of 7 starts and earned $1,024,700. She will remain in sprints this year, though Mandella is eager to try a longer race at some point.

“I’d be anxious to stretch her out,” he said. “But I don’t want to mess it up before the Breeders’ Cup.”

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