Mandella says Beholder Mile possible for Kopion's next start

ARCADIA, Calif. - Since Christmas, Kopion has developed into a star female sprinter, with two wins in graded stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita.

For her next start, Kopion may run in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile, a $300,000 race for fillies and mares at Santa Anita on March 8.

“I’m giving it some thought,” trainer Richard Mandella said on Sunday.

Not only is Kopion winning well this winter, but she has been remarkably quick.

:: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports

In Saturday’s Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for older fillies and mares, Kopion won by a convincing 4 1/2 lengths. She ran seven furlongs in 1:21.27 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 110, the best thus far this year. By comparison, she was timed in 1:22.08 when she won the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on Dec. 26, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 97.

Those races are Kopion’s only starts since she returned from a layoff of more than eight months after a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles last April.

“She was aching all over and we had to give her a break,” Mandella said. “She’s come back pretty good.”

Mandella said a decision may be made this week whether the 2023 Grade 1 winner Tamara remains in training or is retired to be bred. Mandella reported on Saturday that Tamara “chipped a sesamoid” when she kicked a wall leaving the Santa Anita infield training track last week.

Mandella described the decision “as a work in progress for a couple of days.”

“We’re trying to decide whether they want to take the time and give her a chance to come back or just breed her,” he said. “I’d like to keep her racing. I understand the frustration.”

Owned and bred by Spendthrift Farm, Tamara is out of Beholder, a Hall of Fame mare who was a four-time champion in the 2010s. Tamara has won 2 of 4 starts. In her lone start of 2024, she finished second in an allowance race at Del Mar in November. Tamara was withdrawn from the La Brea Stakes because of a temperature, Mandella said at the time.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.