Multiple Grade 1 winner Kopion retired

DEL MAR, Calif. – Kopion has run her final race. The outstanding 4-year-old filly has been retired from racing following a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, trainer Richard Mandella said Saturday at Del Mar.

“She came out of the race fine, but they’re going to breed her,” Mandella said, referring to the filly’s owner Spendthrift Farm. Kopion was scheduled to return to Santa Anita on Sunday, and fly to Spendthrift, in Kentucky, on Tuesday. A stallion for Kopion has not been announced.

Early this season, Kopion was the country’s top female sprinter. She won three successive graded stakes including a pair of Grade 1s – the La Brea Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, and Derby City Distaff on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Although she lost her final three starts, Kopion maintained top form. She finished second to Sweet Azteca in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. in July at Los Alamitos, and second to Seismic Beauty in the highly rated Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch, a route in August at Del Mar.

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The leading earner sired by Omaha Beach, Kopion won five races and $1,204,700 from 10 starts and could attract support as an Eclipse Award candidate for female sprinter. However, BC Turf Sprint winner Shisospicy and BC Filly and Mare Sprint winner Splendora have the inside track.

Mandella said Kopion was scheduled to ship from Del Mar to Santa Anita on Sunday. She will fly to Kentucky on Tuesday morning.

Tamara, the Mandella-trained and Spendthrift -owned and -bred filly who was scratched from the BC Filly and Mare Sprint after regulatory vets said she was lame in the left front, has returned to Santa Anita. Mandella said she will undergo a PET scan early next week.

“I suspect she’ll be fine, but it’ll be good to make sure,” Mandella said. “We’ll wait and see how the scan comes out” before making plans. Tamara, sired by Bold d’Oro and produced by Hall of Fame racing mare Beholder, has won three of five starts.

Mandella said both he and Spendthrift hope Tamara can continue her racing career. Her wins include the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in 2023 and the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes this October at Santa Anita.

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