Mandy Pope

Staton Flurry wanted to park that trophy on his shelf. He wanted to win the Oaklawn Park owner's title so badly he could taste it. The hometown product who calls Hot Springs his backyard and sports that wide grin, knew the race was going to be a good old-fashioned Arkansas throwdown. Flurry sweated it, stayed up late strategizing and for months did everything humanly within the rules to secure the prize. Let's put it this way, if he had a jockey's license he might have donned his distinctive black and...

2nd-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 12:52 p.m. ET. A pair of 3-year-olds from the shedrow of Todd Pletcher will make their debut with Lasix from the inside gates. Exiting the rail spot is RUMOURS HAVE IT (Tapit). The filly is a Whisper Hill homebred who is out of dual champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro). Mandy Pope went to $9.5 million to acquire this dam at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale. Rumours Have It is her third foal and second to make the races. Emanating from next door is Taylor...

The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale concluded its nine-day run in Lexington Wednesday with vibrant trade from a diverse buying bench leading to across-the-board increases where were highlighted by a new sales record median. "Overall, this was a very strong, fair market from start to finish," Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. "Book 1 gross jumped nearly 15% from last year with a much-improved clearance rate and that momentum powered the sale through the final days." For the nine days, 2,158 horses sold for $196,442,900. The average of...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale continued to produce strong results as the nine-day auction continued into its Book 3 section Friday with double-digit gains over last year's corresponding session. During Friday's session, 244 head grossed $18,195,500 for an average of $74,572 and a median of $60,000. The average increased 20.71% and the median was up 20.00% from last year's Book 3 opener when 243 horses sold for $15,012,500 for an average of $61,780 and a median of $50,000. With 417 head catalogued Friday, 314 went through...

by Jessica Martini, Christina Bossinakis, & Jill Williams LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale opened Tuesday in Lexington with a solid Book 1 session punctuated by nine million-dollar mares purchased by a diverse, international buying bench. Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm made the session's highest bid when purchasing graded-stakes winner Roses For Debra (Liam's Map) for $2.4 million from the Candy Meadows Sales consignment. "It was a very solid, vibrant marketplace," said Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin. "It was a really diverse buying bench. We had...

Mandy Pope, who went to $2.4 million to acquire Roses for Debra earlier in the session, made her second seven-figure purchase of the Keeneland November sale when acquiring Lady Tapit (Tapit) (hip 225) for $1.8 million. The 12-year-old mare, in foal to Good Magic, is the dam of Grade I winner Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo). She was consigned by Paramount Sales.

Mandy Pope went to $2.4 million to acquire Roses for Debra (Liam's Map) (hip 198) from the Candy Meadows Sales consignment Tuesday at Keeneland. The 5-year-old racing/broodmare prospect won this year's GII Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes and GIII Giant's Causeway Stakes, while racing for Cheyenne Stables and John O'Meara and trainer Christophe Clement.

GI Blue Grass Stakes winner Tapit Trice (Tapit--Danzatrice, by Dunkirk) will return to his birthplace, Gainesway Farm, to enter stud upon his retirement from racing, the Central Kentucky nursery and stud farm announced Tuesday afternoon. Tapit Trice's next scheduled engagement is Saturday afternoon in the $7-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic, where he will break from post 10. He races for the partnership of Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm, LLC and Gainesway Stable. "Winning the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes in partnership with Gainesway has been a real highlight for our...

4th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 7:26 p.m. ET. Well-bred MISCHIEVOUS TIME (Not This Time) makes his first start for trainer Steve Asmussen. The Whisper Hill homebred is from unraced dam Daisy Mason (Orientate), who Mandy Pope and Gainesway acquired for $475,000 during the Keeneland November Sale while Mischievous Time was in-utero. This dam is herself out of Broodmare of the Year Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek) who prolifically produced all-conquering sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday), current sire Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) and the multiple Eclipse winning Beholder (Henny Hughes). Also set for...

Whisper Hill Farm's multiple graded stakes winner Charge It (Tapit--I'll Take Charge, by Indian Charlie) has been retired from racing and will begin his stud career next season at Gainesway. Charge It followed a 'TDN Rising Star' maiden victory with a runner-up effort in the 2022 GI Florida Derby. He demolished the field with a 23-length victory in the GIII Dwyer Stakes and returned as a 4-year-old to win the GII Suburban Stakes. "Winning any graded race by 23 lengths, as Charge It did in the Dwyer, takes an immensely...

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, which surpassed its record gross Thursday with two sessions still to go, concluded its blockbuster 12-day run Saturday in Lexington with increases across the board over its 2023 renewal. In addition to its record gross, the sale produced its highest-ever average and a tied its record median. "The energy here was at times reminiscent of another era," said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "When we were on inspections earlier this year, we saw quality and consistency among the crop, and it gave us...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale entered Book 3 with a session dominated by colts as buyers targeted stallion prospects Saturday in Lexington. Leading the way was a son of Practical Joke who sold for $900,000 to the bid of Monique Delk, bidding on behalf of Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stable. During Saturday's session, 273 yearlings grossed $47,904,000 for an average of $175,473 and a median of $150,000. The average was up 7.09% and the median rose 15.38% from the corresponding session a year ago when 285 head...