Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Whisper Hill Farm

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Whisper Hill Farm's Mandy Pope.

Shedaresthedevil, 7, Daredevil—Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats. To be bred to Into Mischief.

When we planned Shedaresthedevil's first mating, we chose Gun Runner because we loved the physical match and we also liked the Storm Cat and A.P. Indy in her pedigree for him.   She foaled January 29th, and the filly is everything that we had hoped and dreamed she could be! She is a big, strong chestnut filly with great bone, a big hip and tons of quality!  For 2024, she is going to Into Mischief. Shedaresthedevil's size and scope will match up well with Into Mischief, we believe. And I think we may already have Gun Runner penciled in for 2025!

Songbird, 11, Medaglia d'Oro—Ivanavinalot, by West Acre. To be bred to Gun Runner.  

2023 was a great year for Songbird and everyone connected to her, as she was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame!  Currently, she is in foal to Gun Runner and is going back to Gun Runner. We think her high cruising speed will complement his, as some of his best runners are out of mares with speed. We also think Gun Runner will add a bit of scope and stretch to the foals, which would be a nice addition.  We have retained some fillies out of Songbird as future broodmares, and her first colt (by Curlin) sold for $1 million this past September, so this mare has a lot in the pipeline.

I'll Take Charge, 12, Indian Charlie—Take Charge Lady, by Dehere. 2024 mating undecided.

We bought her as a yearling ($2.2 million, Keeneland September), and with her amazing pedigree we always hoped and planned for her to be a long-term broodmare play.  Thankfully she has fulfilled her destiny, producing GII winner and GI-placed Charge It for us, as well as selling a $1.7 million yearling (by into Mischief) this past September.   She is in foal to Into Mischief on a late cover, so we have decided to see the foal and decide on her future mating at that time, with the main options being Tapit, Into Mischief, or Gun Runner.

Graceful Princess, 8, Tapit—Havre de Grace, by Saint Liam. To be bred to Curlin.

She is an important mare to us, being a Grade III winner out of Havre de Grace, who was so special to me. She is in foal to Gun Runner, and that was an easy choice with the success of Tapit mares and Gun Runner. he is scheduled to go to Curlin for 2024, both on the physical match being excellent, and the fact that he's done well with Tapit mares also, producing the likes of Cody's Wish.

Magical World, 14, Distorted Humor—Pleasant Home, by Seeking the Gold. To be bred to Good Magic.

Magical World is a mare we own in partnership with Three Chimneys Farm, and she was rested last season after having a late May foal. She is going to Good Magic for 2024, mainly because we all really liked the physical match there, since she should give plenty of size and substance to the equation. On the pedigree angle, the cross gives a 4×4 double to Danzig, which we found in three of his graded runners so far, including Kentucky Derby winner Mage.

Hard Not To Love, 8, Hard Spun—Loving Vindication, by Vindication. To be bred to Tapit.

We own this mare in partnership with Gainesway Farm. She is in foal to Curlin and is going to Tapit in 2024. As you know we love Tapit, and the only person who loves Tapit more is Antony Beck, so it was an easy choice!  She also has a lovely Tapit yearling filly, which made the decision even easier.

Tap Gun, 9, Tapit—Quiet Giant, by Giant's Causeway. To be bred to Justify.

As a half-sister to Gun Runner,  she was another of those long-term broodmare plays when we bought her as a yearling. She is in foal to Quality Road and is booked to Justify for 2024. She is a mare who really appreciates a robust stallion who can throw some size like Quality Road and Justify can do. She has a lovely Quality Road yearling filly.

Wicked Whisper, 7, Liam's Map—Zayanna, by Bernardini. To be bred Curlin.

What we loved about this mare when we purchased her was how precocious she was as a race filly. She won first out at Saratoga and followed it up by winning the G1 Frizette.  She is in foal to Gun Runner and scheduled to go back to Curlin for 2024. She has a very powerful and racy Curlin yearling filly, and the cross is doing well, especially with Eclipse Award-winning Idiomatic putting an exclamation point on it! She is a lovely mare who we have high hopes for.