Note: Once a week till the week before the Breeders' Cup, this blog will be featuring a BC race in a new feature called Breeders' Cup Memories. This week we look at the last turf horse before Wise Dan to win Horse of the Year honors in the US. 1993 Turf winner Kotashaan.
When La Presle Farm's Kotashaan (FR) (Darshaan (GB)) came to the US in 1992, the best he could do in his native France was a win in a G3 race in 1991. That being said, he was also G1 placed. The light turned on in Feb of 1993 when he began what would be wins in 4 stakes races including the G1's San Luis Rey, San Juan Capistrano, and Eddie Read. Going into the Breeders' Cup Turf, he had won the Oak Tree Invitational. Among the horses he would be facing included, fellow French breds Apple Tree (FR) (Bikala (IRE)), Luazur (FR) (Bikala (IRE)) and Hernando (FR) (Niniski), Hollywood Turf Handicap winner Bien Bien (Manila), French and English superstar Hatoof (Irish River (FR)) and the defending champion of the race Fraise (Strawberry Road (AUS)).
Sitting towards the back of the pack when the field in the mile and a quarter mark, Kotashaan and jockey Kent Desormeaux had made their way to 3rd. On the turn he and Bein Bein made moves to put themselves right in the thick of things. It looked like that Bein Bein would get the win, but with about a 1/2 a furlong to go Kotashaan would surge passed him to win by a 1/2 a length. Lauzur would finish in third. Fraise would be fourth.
Trained by Richard Mandella (for his US races including the BC Turf win), Kotashaan would finish his career with runner up finish in the Japan Cup. Race record ended with 22 starts with 10 of them wins, 5 second and 2 thirds with earnings of $2,812,114. He would 1993 Eclipse championships for both Turf Male and Horse of the Year.
Kotashaan would go on to stand stud first in Japan and than in Ireland.
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