Copper Tax made his stakes debut a winning one on Saturday when taking down top prize in the $100,000 Rocky Run Stakes for 2-year-olds at Delaware Park and becoming the first stakes winner for Darby Dan Farm's freshman sire Copper Bullet.
In winning his fourth consecutive race in front-running fashion, Copper Tax set all the pace in the one-mile fixture. He led the field under a strong hold up the backstretch and into the far turn, then drew off from his rivals to score by 6¾ lengths over the muddy (sealed) track.
Owned by Rose Petal Stable and trained by Gary Capuano, Copper Tax was produced from the stakes-placed Majestic Warrior mare Wilhelmina, a half-sister to Venezuelan champion sprinter Strength Mask (VEN). Copper Tax was a $45,000 acquisition at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling 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 Steve 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) at Churchill Downs, 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 caught the eye at public auction this year with Copper Bullet's first 2-year-olds commanding up to $275,000, $260,000, and $175,000.
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 will stand the upcoming breeding season 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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