Tall Oaks Farm

Spendthrift Farm's Kopion (Omaha Beach--Galloping Ami, by Victory Gallop), who posted three Beyer Speed Figures in excess of 107 in a season which included a blowout victory in the GI Derby City Distaff Stakes, has been retired, according to a report from the Daily Racing Form. Bred by Ivan Dalos's Tall Oaks Farm, Kopion was a $270,000 Keeneland September yearling and won a pair of stakes over seven furlongs at three, a 5 3/4-length success in the GIII Santa Ynez Stakes and a 2 3/4-length score at odds of 37-1...

Spendthrift Farm, forced to scratch Grade I winner Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) with an elevated temperature Thursday morning, had a more than suitable understudy in the afternoon's GI La Brea Stakes when Kopion (Omaha Beach) romped home a geared-down 2 3/4-length winner at Santa Anita. Returning from nine months on the sidelines and dismissed at 35-1, the chestnut filly chased pacesetting Sandy Bottom (Omaha Beach) through an opening quarter in :22.17. Kopion easily moved up to engage the pacesetter as the half went up in :44.32 and she grabbed command out...

Canada's 2020 Horse of the Year Mighty Heart (Dramedy) took home the same honors for the 2021 season at the 47th Annual Sovereign Awards, hosted by The Jockey Club of Canada Thursday at the Universal Eventspace just outside of Toronto. A homebred for Larry Cordes, Mighty Heart won the GII Autumn S. and GIII Dominion Day S. in Canada, as well as the Blame S. at Churchill Downs. The popular one-eyed 4-year-old had won the same award last year on the strength of his victories in the Queen's Plate and...

Prominent owner/breeder Ivan Dalos will be presented with the E. P. Taylor Award of Merit during the 47th Sovereign Awards ceremony to be held Thursday, Apr. 14 in Vaughan, Ontario. The owner of the Ontario-based Tall Oaks Farm, Dalos has been involved with Thoroughbreds for 45 years and has bred the likes of Victory Gallop and Channel Maker, winning more than a dozen Sovereign Awards, including as outstanding breeder. He has raced the likes of homebreds Ami's Flatter, Ami's Mesa and Amis Gizmo to a variety of stakes successes both...

Dual Canadian Classic winner Mighty Heart (Dramedy), a homebred for Lawrence Cordes, was named Canadian Horse of the Year at the 46th Annual Sovereign Awards ceremony held Thursday evening. It marked the second year in a row Canada's championship awards were held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Trained by Josie Carroll, Mighty Heart began his sophomore campaign in July with a maiden special weight victory at Woodbine, then went on to capture the Sept. 12 Queen's Plate S. and the Sept. 29 Prince of Wales S. The one-eyed...