Tag: santa anita

Effortless Victory for Omaha Beach Filly in Santa Ynez

Spendthrift stallion Omaha Beach got the first graded win of his nascent sire career with a blowout victory by Kopion (f, 3, Omaha Beach–Galloping Ami, by Victory Gallop) in Santa Anita's GIII Santa Ynez S. Sunday. Three of the four fillies in the gate were by first-crop sires, but it was the least experienced of the newly minted sophomore fillies whom the public pegged at 1-5 and who put herself firmly in the early GI Kentucky Oaks conversation. The Santa Ynez was worth 10 points on the Oaks trail on a 5-3-2-1 scale.

Kopion broke smoothly from the Santa Ynez rail, but there was trouble just to her inside as 5-2 second-choice Tambo (Enticed) stutter stepped and stumbled. She was quickly left several lengths back as Kopion continued unbothered and under a hold while in front with authority. As the chestnut cruised through a :23.70 first quarter with her ears flicking back and forth, Tambo went outside horses and caught up with the short field.

Both Kopion and rider Flavien Prat had enough of the stalking Don't Bring Crazy (Maximus Mischief) by the :46.55 half as Prat imperceptibly gave the filly his blessing to let it out the smallest of notches. She quickly opened up and the race was over before the stretch as Kopion put 5 3/4 lengths on the field while Prat sat almost motionless and never asked her. It was clearly a special performance. Don't Bring Crazy held second over Tambo, who got up for third.

“Her trip was good,” said Prat. “She was a bit sharper today but she jumped well out of there and she looked around a bit when she was on the lead. Besides that she did everything perfect. It's always special when I ride for [Richard] Mandella.”

Kopion debuted Nov. 26 in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Del Mar with a sharp win and an 83 Beyer Speed Figure. Prat was aboard that day as well. Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella and Prat also teamed up to win this race last year with Ice Dancing (Frosted); Prat was making it three in a row and four of the last six in the Santa Ynez with additional wins in 2022 with Under the Stars (Pioneerof the Nile) and in 2019 with Bellafina (Quality Road). Just a week prior to Kopion's Santa Ynez, Mandella and Prat had joined forces to close out 2023 with Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah)'s win in the GII Joe Hernandez S. Forbidden Kingdom is co-owned by Spendthrift; Kopion is owned outright by the farm as a $270,000 Keeneland September buy.

“It looked like when she went out to the track she settled down, she warmed up nice, and went to the gate nice,” said Mandella about Kopion's first graded win. “She left there running and she kind of gave us that feeling when we were in the paddock. She showed her class.

“The only time she didn't work good was with Tamara; I can't explain it but she just didn't want any part of it.”

It was just a few months ago that Tamara (Bolt d'Oro)–a 'TDN Rising Star' and winner of the GI Del Mar Debutante S.–was the undisputed star of the crop for both Spendthrift and the Mandella barn. The daughter of the Spendthrift/Mandella multiple champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) has been sidelined since coming out of the Breeders' Cup with a fractured splint bone in her left hind leg.

Pedigree Notes:

Much has been made of the perceived underperformance of the 2023 freshman sires in the graded department, but Omaha Beach finished top of the class for the year by both graded performers with four and black-type horses with 11 before coming out firing with his first graded winner in the first week of 2024. The MGISW son of War Front–like Kopion, also trained by Mandella–has 25 winners in his first crop and three black-type winners. In addition to Kopion's graded victory, his GSP-Ire daughter Launch finished second Sunday in Gulfstream's Glitter Woman S.

Kopian is out of a daughter of 1999 champion older horse Victory Gallop, reportedly still standing in Turkey at the age of 29 this year. Victory Gallop has 37 stakes winners as a broodmare sire.

From the prolific 'Ami' family, Kopion is a half to 2016 Canadian champion Amis Gizmo (Giant Gizmo) and to GSW & GISP Ami's Flatter (Flatter). Others in the immediate family include dual 2017 Canadian champion Ami's Mesa (Sky Mesa). Kopion's dam has a 2-year-old colt named Authentic Gallop (Authentic), a yearling filly by Essential Quality, and was bred to Uncle Mo for this term. The juvenile was a $300,000 Keeneland September buy by Greg Tramontin.

Galloping Ami was honored with Canada's Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broodmare for 2016; her full-sister, Victorious Ami, was given the same award for 2017.

Sunday, Santa Anita
SANTA YNEZ S.-GIII, $98,000, Santa Anita, 1-7, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:23.89, ft.
1–KOPION, 120, f, 3, by Omaha Beach
1st Dam: Galloping Ami (Outstanding Broodmare-Can), by Victory Gallop
               2nd Dam: Secret Ami, by Secret Claim
               3rd Dam: Sybelle Ami, by Alwasmi
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($270,000
Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-Tall Oaks Farm
(KY); T-Richard E. Mandella; J-Flavien Prat. $60,000. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $96,600. *1/2 to Aragorn Ami (Aragorn
{Ire}), SW, $112,535; 1/2 to Ami's Flatter (Flatter), GSW &
GISP, $536,931; 1/2 to Amis Gizmo (Giant Gizmo), Ch.
3-year-old Colt-Can, GSW, $800,022. Werk Nick Rating: B.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free
Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
*1st graded winner for first-crop sire (by War Front).
2–Don't Bring Crazy, 120, f, 3, Maximus Mischief–Lily Maria,
by Paynter. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($60,000 Wlg '21 KEENOV; $140,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP).
O-Mark Davis; B-Mullikin Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Doug F.
O'Neill. $20,000.
3–Tambo, 120, f, 3, Enticed–Flatter Me First, by Flatter. 1ST
GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($29,000 Ylg '22 KEEJAN; $25,000 Ylg
'22 KEESEP; $70,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-SAF Racing,
Neil A. Haymes, James E. McCadden, and William Strauss;
B-Thoroughbred by Design LLC (KY); T-Peter Eurton.
$12,000.
Margins: 5 3/4, 4 3/4, 5 3/4. Odds: 0.20, 16.00, 2.90.
Also Ran: Bossy Bruin Gal. Scratched: Petit Filet.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Maldonado Expected To Miss 2-3 Weeks Via Injury

Jockey Edwin Maldonado sustained a shoulder injury during training hours on Saturday and is expected to be out for the next two to three weeks, his agent Tony Matos told the Santa Anita notes team.

Maldonado, 41, was injured when he was unseated from his mount on the track. He was sent to a local hospital to be assessed and was later released.

“We have an appointment tomorrow and will know more then. But right now it sounds like it will be about two to three weeks,” Matos said.

Through Friday's action, Maldonado had recorded six victories from 15 rides thus far during the Classic Meet at Santa Anita. He is the regular rider of Spendthrift Farm's Ruby Nell (Bolt d'Oro), who he has piloted to wins in the Unzip Me S. back in October and the Dec. 31 Lady of Shamrock S.

Maldonado has been riding professionally since 2002. He has won 1,544 races while banking more than $53.7 million in purse earnings according to Equibase statistics. Maldonado was scheduled on four mounts for Sunday's nine-race card.

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Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Runner-Up Muth Headlines San Vicente

Zedan Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Muth (Good Magic), winner of the GI American Pharoah S. and runner-up in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, will take on five rivals in Saturday's seven-furlong GII San Vicente S. at Santa Anita. Regular rider Juan J. Hernandez will be aboard the 4-5 morning-line favorite.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will also saddle front-running Del Mar debut winner and 5-2 second-choice Pilot Commander (Justify).

Baffert is seeking his record 13th win in the San Vicente, which was previously held in early February.

“They changed the format,” Baffert said. “While I liked it better when this race was in February, I think this should be a good starting point to his season. I think the winner (Fierceness) just ran a crazy fast race (in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile). Muth ran well, he just got beat.”

This weekend's graded stakes action also includes Sunday's GIII Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita. The rail-drawn Kopion (Omaha Beach), a sharp debut winner for trainer Richard Mandella at Del Mar in late November, is the 3-5 morning-line favorite.

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Veteran Trainer Eddie Truman Retires

A former assistant to Bobby Frankel and a licensed trainer for more than 50 years, Eddie Truman announced on Monday that he had sent his final horse to the track on New Year's Eve morning at Santa Anita—ending a racetrack run that dates back to the early 1960s.

A winner of 763 races from 5,334 starters, with purse earnings of $15.7 million, Truman said that with his 77th birthday fast approaching Jan. 23, the time was right for him and his wife Elizabeth to step away from a way of life that dates back to his teenage years, when, as an apprentice jockey in 1963 at Sportsman's Park in Chicago, he led all riders.

“I've been blessed to have a great group of owners, some of them for 40 years,” Truman said. “I believe the great horses, the great jockeys, here in a great setting is something we could never replace and that Santa Anita will continue forever.”

Truman, who following an initial run as a licensed trainer for one year in Detroit, MI and a subsequent trip to Europe, came to Southern California in 1972. His first stop was the backstretch at Hollywood Park, where he introduced himself to Frankel, in the hopes of securing a job as an exercise rider, assistant, or whatever might be available.

“When I came back from Europe, I decided I wanted to be a trainer and that I wanted to go with the best…Forget everything I thought I knew and try to learn from the best. And so, it was Charlie Whittingham or Bobby Frankel,” said Truman. “I happened to walk into Bobby's barn first and I asked him if I could get on some horses or if there were any jobs available. He said 'Who are you?' And I said 'Eddie Truman.' And he said 'Oh my God, you were riding when I was walking hots at Tropical Park in 1963!' So then, he told me to go get on a horse and I was in.”

He continued, “I've just been associated with such great people and they were not only clients, but really nice friends. All these people and of course, the horses, have made it spectacular, a dream come true for me.”

Truman's top horses include Go West Marie ($452,600); Irish-bred Casino King ($328,689); Moonless Sky ($269,120) and With Iris ($251,740).

—courtesy Mike Willman, Santa Anita Stable Notes

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