Copper Kan impressively defeated a maiden special weight field at Lone Star Park on Friday night and became the first winner for Darby Dan Farm's freshman sire Copper Bullet.
Third in her career debut on May 28, Copper Kan left little doubt who was best in her second start. She broke alertly and settled in hand to track the leaders from third in the early stages. Angled out by jockey Stewart Elliott at the top of the stretch, Copper Kan collared the pacesetters in the lane, and won the five-furlong event going away in a final time of 1:00.70.
Owned and trained by Steve Asmussen, who also conditioned Copper Bullet for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing, Copper Kan is produced from the stakes-winning Kantharos mare Wildwood Kantharos and hails from the family of stakes winner and multiple stakes-placed Lakehouse Fun. Copper Kan was bred in Texas by Bryan Henderson and is a graduate of this year's Texas Thoroughbred Association's 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
Copper Bullet, a graded stakes-winning juvenile and multiple graded stakes-placed son of More Than Ready, was a dominating four-length winner of the 2017 Saratoga Special (G2). An impressive eight-length maiden special weight winner at Churchill Downs in just his second career start for Asmussen, Copper Bullet was named a TDN Rising Star off the eye-catching performance. In addition to his sensational juvenile season, in which he also finished second in the Bashford Manor (G3), Copper Bullet went on to place in the Razorback Handicap(G3) behind multiple graded stakes winner Coal Front at Oaklawn Park as a 4-year-old en route to banking $339,345.
Copper Bullet's first three crops are the product of hand-selected matings with strict criteria: age, race record, family, production, pedigree, and conformation. The resulting offspring have caught the eye at public auction with Copper Bullet's first 2-year-olds commanding up to $275,000, $260,000, and $175,000. Copper Bullet has seen 11 of his 13 juveniles offered sell for $1,075,000, good for an average of $97,727.
Produced from the winning Unbridled's Song mare Allegory, Copper Bullet descends from an historic French family that includes the likes of French highweights Loup Sauvage and Loup Solitaire. A $200,000 Keeneland September purchase by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Copper Bullet was bred in Kentucky by Dell Ridge Farm.
For more information on Copper Bullet, who stands for $7,500 S&N, contact Stallion Director Stuart Fitzgibbon at (859) 621-6763 or by email at Stuart@darbydan.com, or visit darbydan.com.
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