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.

The post Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Whisper Hill Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Sunday Insights: Pin Oak’s Revised Statute Picks Tough Spot For Debut

6th-SA, $100K, AOC, 3yo, 1m, 4:30 p.m.

Richard Mandella has ambitiously spotted REVISED STATUTE (Consitition) for his debut Sunday. The colt set expectations high when he nearly topped the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling sale, selling to Pin Oak Stud for $1,800,000. A son of GI Madison S. winner and $1.5m NEENOV broodmare Last Full Measure, Revised Statute is a half to GI Juddmonte Spinster S. heroine Valiance (Tapit), herself a $3m FTKNOV broodmare purchase. His second dam is Lazy Slusan, also a dual Grade I winner. Revised Statute will need to bring his best on debut as he lines up just to the inside of a pair of more-experienced Bob Baffert stablemates including $900,000 OBSAPR buy and 'TDN Rising Star' Maymun (Frosted) along with $1.05m KEESEP yearling Imagination (Into Mischief). TJCIS PPS

2nd-GP, 89K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1mT, 12:40 p.m.

Another big KEESEP purchse, Last Episode (Into Mischief) went for $900,000 and starts over the grass for Todd Pletcher and the partnership of WinStar Farm and Siena Farm at Gulfstream. The filly is a half to champion 2-year-old colt Shanghai Bobby (Harlan's Holiday) and to the dam of MGSW Canoodling (Pioneerof the Nile). She is the last foal out of the stakes-winning mare Steelin' who RNA'd for $1.775m at FTKNOV in 2015. TJCIS PPS

6th-GP, $89K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 2:38 p.m.

Juddmonte homebred Save Time (Into Mischief) debuts Sunday out of the Chad Brown barn. The filly is the first foal out of a daughter of MGISW Sightseek (Distant View). This is also the family of MGISW Tates Creek (Rahy), MGSW Fulsome (Into Mischief) and European champion 2-year-old filly Special Duty (GB) (Hennessy). TJCIS PPS

The post Sunday Insights: Pin Oak’s Revised Statute Picks Tough Spot For Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Timberlake Pointing for Rebel

'TDN Rising Star' Timberlake (Into Mischief), winner of last fall's GI Champagne S., could potentially launch his sophomore season in the GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn Park Feb. 24. The Siena Farm and WinStar Farm colorbearer was last seen finishing a well-beaten fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita Nov. 3.

“He's pointing for it,” trainer Brad Cox said. “We've got to see how our works go over the next several weeks, but he's doing well. Hopefully, we can get him there.”

Timberlake worked four furlongs in :48.60 (10/92) at Fair Grounds Saturday.

“The other race in play for him would probably be the (GII) Gotham at Aqueduct (Mar. 2),” Cox said. “He did win up in New York. He won the Champagne there at Aqueduct, so that could be something that is in play as well. We'll see how he performs over the next few weeks breezing.”

The post Timberlake Pointing for Rebel appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Champion Pretty Mischievous Back in Training for Four-Year-Old Campaign

Recently crowned champion 3-year-old filly Pretty Mischievous (f, 4, Into Mischief–Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit), off since finishing a rallying second in the GI Cotillion S. over a sloppy, sealed track at Parx Sept. 23, has begun to gear up for her 2024 campaign.

The Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' is currently in training with Brendan Walsh at Palm Meadows in South Florida and could potentially return to action over Kentucky Derby weekend.

“She went back to Brendan a couple of weeks ago,” Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said. “She had a nice break in the wintertime up here at Jonabell. She's a big, strong filly anyway, but she did very well with her break. He'll probably start doing a couple of little two-minute licks with her in the next couple of weeks and start to step it up.”

Banahan added, “Nothing in stone in yet, but we'll probably look at trying to get her started at Churchill, maybe the (GI) La Troienne S. or something like that.”

Led by a thrilling, neck victory from post 14 with first-time blinkers in last year's GI Kentucky Oaks, Pretty Mischievous was a slam dunk as the nation's champion 3-year-old filly.

She backed up her 10-1 upset on the first Friday in May with another game tally at the top level, this time by a head, in the GI Acorn S. during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

Following the tragic breakdown of Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic), Pretty Mischievous crossed the wire first by a head while turning back to seven furlongs in a heart-breaking renewal of the GI Test S. at Saratoga.

After losing little in defeat in the Cotillion, she shipped to Santa Anita to take on older fillies and mares for the first time in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but was scratched after showing signs of colic following the flight from Kentucky.

“She had a bit of a belly ache and just wasn't herself,” Banahan said. “I think it was maybe just a little bit with the shipping. She had a long season up to there and she answered every call. She trained O.K. (after shipping), but she just wasn't 100 percent, and you can't be running in a race the quality of the Breeders' Cup Distaff unless you're 100 percent. It wouldn't be fair to her to be taking a chance like that.”

A daughter of the all-conquering Into Mischief, Pretty Mischievous was produced by 2016 GI Spinaway S. winner Pretty City Dancer, who was acquired by Sheikh Mohammed's operation for $3.5 million at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale. Pretty Mischievous currently sports a record of 10-7-2-1 and career earnings of $1,944,560.

“She's in great shape now,” Banahan concluded. “Couldn't be better. We're very happy to have her back in the barn.”

The post Champion Pretty Mischievous Back in Training for Four-Year-Old Campaign appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights