When Kopion returned from a near nine-month layoff Dec. 26 to pull off a 37-1 upset in the seven-furlong La Brea Stakes (G1) Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park, she not only earned her first grade 1 victory but also cemented herself as a leading member on the long honor roll of horses bred by Tall Oaks Farm.
"It was a very nice surprise," said Tall Oaks' founder Ivan Dalos.
Dalos had followed the 3-year-old filly's breezes as she prepped for her comeback and thought she was ready to fire while returning to sprint races after journeying on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) trail in the spring.
"I think she's got a legitimate shot of being a grade 1 horse at the right distance," Dalos said. "I'm only the breeder, not the trainer. I only know the lineage and I think this is the distance she wants to go. I think if they keep her at this distance, she'll be very successful."
Knowing the lineage would be an understatement as Kopion is a fourth-generation homebred. Her dam, the unraced mare Galloping Ami, won the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broodmare for the 2016 season. During that year, her 4-year-old Flatter colt Ami's Flatter won the Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland and her 3-year-old Giant Gizmo colt Amis Gizmo won the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, and the Ontario Derby (G3).
That Sovereign Award for top broodmare, along with Amis Gizmo's honor that year as Canada's champion 3-year-old colt and Conquest Enforcer's Canadian Champion turf male honors netted the first three of 12 Sovereign Awards won by Dalos and his horses to date.
Galloping Ami, as well as her multiple graded stakes winner-producing full sister Victorious Ami, are both daughters of Dalos' first major breeding success: 1998 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner and 1999 Eclipse Champion Older Male Victory Gallop.
Where Kopion differs from her grade 3-winning siblings is her place of birth. Prior to 2020, all of Galloping Ami's foals had been foaled and registered as Ontario-breds. As her progeny had success and would become more valuable in the sales ring, Dalos switched to foaling in Kentucky—an easy transition as the Ontario-breds were already being raised in the Bluegrass State after being foaled in Canada.
"In the sales, a Kentucky-bred sells better than an Ontario-bred," Dalos said. "I can't keep all my horses that I breed. I have 40 mares. I can't keep them all. The better mares—actually it's not the way to do it but I'm doing it—the ones I think I can sell well, I put in the sales. The ones I don't think are going to bring a large amount of money, I keep and race."
Adding to the appeal of a Kentucky-bred was the selection of Kopion's young Kentucky-based sire Omaha Beach , who stands the 2025 season at Spendthrift Farm for a fee of $35,000. The daughter of their own stallion made a lasting impression on Spendthrift as they went to $270,000 to acquire Kopion from the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Omaha Beach had an extra appeal to Dalos: the presence of Danzig as his grandsire.
"I always loved Danzig," Dalos said. "Very few people in North America appreciate Danzig."
Dalos has his own ideas on racing and breeding. His love for Danzig led to him making an initially questioned move when he decided to stand Gamble's Exchange , a son of the Danzig stallion Exchange Rate, despite the horse never making it to the starting gate.
"I didn't know what to do with him. I said OK, I'm going to breed him for myself,'" Dalos recalled. "They said you can't breed a stallion that's never raced. I said 'OK but I can breed it for myself.' I'll breed it for myself because I want the Danzig line. I started breeding him."
Gamble's Exchange's progeny performed so well for Dalos that there became a demand to offer him publicly. The sire of two stakes winners from just 27 foals of racing age now stands at Ballycroy Bloodstock in Loretto, Ontario for a 2025 fee of CA$4,000.
The 13-year-old stallion has produced 78% winners to runners, including stakes winners Mason's Gambleand Dixie's Gamble, both bred by Dalos.
"I knew there had to be something there because (Gamble's Exchange) is a Danzig," Dalos said. "You got to do what you got to do. You have to go by your gut instinct and what you think is right for you. That's what I did."
That gut instinct has helped Dalos navigate his way through the initial stages of entering the Thoroughbred industry and developing bloodlines that have stood the test of time.
MORRISON: Ivan Dalos' Tall Oaks Farm Improves the Breed
"It gives me enormous pride," Dalos said of success that continues with each generation. "I'm a guy who wasn't brought up with horses. I knew nothing about horse racing and about horses until I was in my late 30s. I kind of fell into it by accident. Everything that I do, I learned on the go, doing it the hard way. Learning it from experience, not doing it well at the beginning, making mistakes, hitting the books, and trying to pick everybody's brain. It took a long time to get to this point."
The patience and dedication to perfecting his craft has led Dalos to one of the most illustrious breeding programs in Canada. Breeding horses as a "sideline hobby" since the 1980s, he has received a multitude of awards since starting to breed full-time following retirement from his flooring and construction business about 15 years ago.
Among his awards are a trio of recognitions as a Canadian breeder from the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (2012, 2019, 2020), two Sovereign Awards as Outstanding Breeder (2018, 2020), the 2022 E.P. Taylor Award of Merit, and numerous honors from the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society that include the 2018 Award of Excellence, 2019 Breeder of the Year, and 2020 Mint Julep Lifetime Achievement awards.
"I love breeding, I like breeding more than racing," Dalos said. "I find it more challenging to create something."
