In Memory of Got Koko

This morning I learned from trainer Bruce Headley that grade 1 stakes winner Got Koko died from foaling complications on Sunday, Mar. 5 after delivering a Bernardini colt at Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Farm in Kentucky.

I will never forget the thrill of watching the gutsy filly make history at Santa Anita for Headley, who trained her for his wife, Aase, and Paul Leung. Got Koko was one of only three fillies ever to sweep the prestigious La Canada series, which she accomplished during the early part of the 2002-03 Santa Anita meet. The series consists of the La Brea Stakes (G1), El Encino Stakes (G2), and La Canada Stakes (G2).

Got Koko won seven of 15 starts and earned $960,946. She is the dam of a three-year-old filly by A.P. Indy named Koko Pop, a two-year-old colt by A.P. Indy, and a yearling colt by Ghostzapper. Rest in peace, Koko.

La Brea Stakes has a Rich History

Today’s Grade 1 La Brea Stakes kicks off the La Canada Series at Santa Anita for newly turning 4-year-old fillies. The 7-furlong La Brea is followed by the El Encino Stakes at 1-1/16 miles on Jan. 18, and the La Canada Stakes at 1-1/8 miles on Feb. 15. The series, run at increasing distances, is the female counterpart of Santa Anita’s Strub Series that began on opening day with the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes.

The series has been run since 1974-75, and only three fillies have ever won all three races: Taisez Vous (1978), Mitterand (1985) and Got Koko (2003).

The La Brea is named for Rancho La Brea, an area in the heart of Los Angeles County noted for the La Brea Tar Pits, the word word "brea" being Spanish for tar. Rancho La Brea is one of the world’s most famous fossil localities and is recognized as having the largest and most diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world.