Whisper Hill | Horse Racing Free Tips

Catching Up with 2010 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic Winner Unrivaled Belle

News — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 22:06:29 +0000

A homebred for Gary Seidler and Peter Vegso, Unrivaled Belle's Breeders' Cup win came at the expense of the following year's Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, who finished third. The two mares would eventually share common ownership, both being purchased by Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm, and live together at Timber Town before Havre de Grace's passing earlier this year.

The crown jewel among Unrivaled Belle's foals to date is two-time champion Unique Bella. Unrivaled Belle has a 2-year-old full-sister to Unique Bella named Tap My Belle, as well as yearling and weanling colts by Into Mischief. She was bred to Flightline for next term.

“Our time with Unrivaled Belle was amazing and super fun,” said Vegso, best known outside of racing as publisher of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series. “She was a wonderful horse and loved racing. Bill Mott did a super job with her; he's a special soul as is 'the Belle.' It's always so special when a horse we foal does so super well; makes having a farm and mares and mating–and the Mother Nature surrounding that comes with it–magical.”

Unrivaled Belle (2006 gray or roan mare, Unbridled's Song–Queenie Belle, by Bertrando)

Lifetime record: GISW, 14-6-6-1, $1,854,706

Breeders' Cup connections: B/O-Gary Seidler & Peter Vegso (KY); T-Bill Mott; J-Kent Desormeaux.

Current location: Timber Town Stable, Lexington, Ky.

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$1.3M Tapit Filly to Sinandigan Stable Gets Things Off to a Bang on Day 2 of KEESEP

News — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 17:27:55 +0000

The very first horse through the ring Tuesday, the second day of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, got things going in a big way when selling for $1.3 million to an online bidder, later identified as Sinandigan Stable. The Tapit filly out of Lady Take Charge (War Front) was consigned by Gainesway, where Tapit stands, and was bred by Whisper Hill Farm, LLC, who bought her dam for $3.2 million at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. A Mar. 27 foal, Hip 202's granddam is Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady (Dehere), making her from the same immediate family as champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and MGISW Omaha Beach (War Front), among many other top horses.

There were fireworks as soon as the first horse stepped into the ring Tuesday, for the second session of Book 1 at @keenelandsales September, as this Tapit filly out of Lady Take Charge – from the TAKE CHARGE LADY family, sold for $1.3 million! Consigned by @Gainesway. pic.twitter.com/dpVNKdPu8M

— TDN (@theTDN) September 12, 2023

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Charge It Wins Easily In Return To The Races

News — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 20:50:34 +0000

8th-Gulfstream, $74,400, Alw (C)/Opt. Clm ($62,500), 2-5, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:41.96, gd, 1 1/2 lengths.
CHARGE IT (c, 4, Tapit–I'll Take Charge, by Indian Charlie), a 'TDN Rising Star' not seen since his 23-length romp in the GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont last July, was hammered into 1-5 favoritism for his return to the races Sunday. Eased out of the gate, he found himself four wide into the clubhouse turn before taking back to race fourth in the top flight. Led through the half by Laughing Boy (Distorted Humor), the grey began to inch up on the front pair up the backstretch under a motionless Luis Saez. Two wide for the lead as the field spun for home, Charge It easily cleared off and, under minimal urging, cruised home to defeat Vittorio (Ghostzapper) by 1 1/2 lengths. Out of a daughter of prolific broodmare Take Charge Lady, I'll Take Charge is a half-sister to champion 3-year-old colt Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song), GISW Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), GISW As Time Goes By (American Pharoah), and to the dam of champion 2-year-old filly Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) and MGISW Omaha Beach (War Front). Charge It has a yearling half-brother by Into Mischief while I'll Take Charge returned to leading sire Tapit for a full-sibling in 2023. Lifetime Record: GSW & GISP, 6-3-2-0, $411,700. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O/B-Whisper Hill Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

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Daughter of Groupie Doll Comes Out Running at Gulfstream

News — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 19:54:55 +0000

4th-Gulfstream, $53,000, Msw, 1-30, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:25.34, ft, 1 length.
DOLL BABY (f, 3, Tapit–Groupie Doll {Ch. Female Sprinter, Ch. Female Sprinter, MGISW, $2,648,850}, by Bowman's Band) faced a field of well-bred rivals on career debut here–but none as well-bred as her–going seven furlongs on the dirt with first-time Lasix as well as sporting a pair of blinkers. Breaking sharply, the 5-2 second choice immediately cleared her competition to claim the rail and rolled up the backstretch as the commanding speed. Coming through the turn and into the homestretch, the Whisper Hill Farm homebred built up a three-length lead through a :45.63 half, and maintained enough of it to claim victory first out over a rallying Catiche (Arrogate), who came up a length short on the wire.

Out of two-time Eclipse Award-winning Groupie Doll, Doll Baby has five full-siblings, and is the third winner among them. She also has a 2-year-old half-brother by Justify. The dam sold for $3.1 million in 2013 at Keeneland November to Mandy Pope after a stellar career which included back-to-back victories in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Groupie Doll came up barren in 2021 after a visit to leading sire Into Mischief, and is expecting a foal by Speightstown this season. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $31,800. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O/B-Whisper Hill Farm, LLC; T-Ralph E. Nicks.

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Immaculately Bred Tapit Colt Off the Mark in Japan

News — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 13:45:51 +0000

1st-Hakodate, ¥9,680,000 ($87,717), Maiden, 2yo, 1800mT, 1:50.3, gd/fm.
FIFTY CHEVY (c, 2, Tapit–Stopchargingmaria {MGISW, $3,014,000}, by Tale of the Cat), an $825,000 purchase out of last year's Keeneland September sale, made the majority of the pace in his June 13 debut going this distance at Tokyo before retreating in the final 200 meters to finish fourth. Better than a 10-1 chance for this second go, the beautifully bred bay was away only fairly from gate 11 and raced with just two rivals behind as they hit the first turn. Unhappy with his mount's positioning behind a slow pace, jockey Takeshi Yokoyama boldly hit the gas with about 5 1/2 furlongs to travel, allowing Fifty Chevy to stride into the lead at the 800-meter pole. Nursed along on the turn, Fifty Chevy responded gamely when set down in upper stretch and began looking for the line in the final 50 meters, but got there with a half-length to spare. Winner of the 2014 GI CCA Oaks and GI Alabama S. for owner Mike Repole, Stopchargingmaria was a $3.15-million buyback at that year's FTKNOV sale before being purchased privately by Louise and Kiki Courtelis' Town and Country Farms. Upset winner of the 2015 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, the mare remained in training through her 5-year-old season and was knocked down to Three Chimneys for $2.8 million at FTKNOV in 2016. She was most recently acquired by Whisper Hill Farm for $4.4 million with this foal in utero at the 2018 FTKNOV sale. Three-year-old filly Stillchargingmaria (Pioneerof the Nile), a $1.9-million graduate of FTKNOV and her dam's first produce, won her maiden at Lone Star Park this past April and added a July 5 allowance, both on turf. Stopchargingmaria is the dam of a yearling full-brother to Fifty Chevy and a filly foal by Quality Road. The winning owner also campaigns Vanishing Point (Tapit), the full-brother to multiple champion Unique Bella, who cost $1.5 million at KEESEP in 2019. Sales history: $825,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $55,856.
O-Yuji Hasegawa; B-Three Chimneys Farm LLC & Whisper Hill Farm LLC (KY); T-Kazuo Fujisawa.

WATCH: Fifty Chevy graduates at second asking at Hakodate

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Risk Taking, Unbridled Honor Added to Preakness

News — Fri, 07 May 2021 19:49:14 +0000

Next weekend's GI Preakness S. continues to take shape as GSW Risk Taking (Medaglia d'Oro) and Unbridled Honor (Honor Code) are expected to be added to the fray during Monday's draw at Pimlico.

Winner of the GIII Withers S. in February, Risk Taking had been initially tabbed to contest the nine-furlong GIII Peter Pan S. at Belmont Saturday, but has been rerouted to join his Klaravich Stables stablemate, Crowded Trade (More Than Ready), in the second jewel in the Triple Crown. Chad Brown trains the colt for Baltimore native Seth Klarman, who was the co-owner of Brown's 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing.

“After a couple of lengthy discussions with Mr. Klarman, we feel that this horse is better around two turns,” explained Brown. “That, along with the defections, it just seemed like a good opportunity to take a chance with the horse. I know he is the morning-line favorite for the Peter Pan and we are giving that up, but the reward is: if we are able to get lucky in this race and have him run the race of his life and potentially win or be right there, it's a huge purse. Along with that, it's a little better for him around two turns with the extra distance. Of course, it's a tougher race, but it just came down to a risk-and-reward situation and getting the opportunity to try him around two turns.”

The Preakness will be Risk Taking's first start since he finished seventh as the 2-1 favorite in the Apr. 3 GII Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. He broke his maiden at the Big A in December prior to his Withers score.

“Our optimism is really based on being able to confidently draw a line through the Wood,” Brown said. “If we do that, and if he was to move forward off his previous two races, another step forward, finishing strong at a mile and three-sixteenths, it could potentially put him in the trifecta or maybe better.”

Jose Ortiz will ride the Risk Taking in the Preakness.

Newly-minted Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher also confirmed Whisper Hill's Unbridled Honor will take aim at the Preakness, the only Classic which the 53-year-old has yet to win.

A narrow winner in his third career start going just over a mile at Tampa in February, the colt was fourth in the GII Tampa Bay Derby before a runner-up finish in the GIII Lexington S. at Keeneland Apr. 10.

“He's a horse that we've always had high hopes for,” Pletcher said Friday. “He's always trained really well and he's still sort of putting it all together in race situations. We thought he made a move forward in the Tampa Derby when he ran a sneaky-good fourth and was finishing arguably the best of anyone in the field. He came back and was second-best in the Lexington. That was another improving effort.”

The grey will be Pletcher's 10th Preakness runner and his first since Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming finished eighth in 2017. His best finish was a third with his first starter, Impeachment, in 2000.

Unbridled Honor will have his final Preakness work Saturday morning and is scheduled to ship from Belmont Park to Pimlico on Tuesday.

Pletcher indicated that the 1 3/16-mile race could provide an ideal scenario for the colt.

“We like the way he's training and if he could get a decent pace up front to run at, we feel that if he can take another step forward and he's in the mix,” Pletcher said.

Jockey Luis Saez will replace Julien Leparoux in the saddle for the Preakness, his first mount on the colt.

“We've had a lot of luck with Luis,” Pletcher said. “He's riding great and we're happy to have him.”

In related Preakness news, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas told Maryland Jockey Club racing officials Friday that Christina Baker and William Mack's Ram (American Pharoah) has not been ruled out and he expects a decision to be made Saturday.

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Half Sis to Constitution First to Seven Figs at KEESEP

News — Sun, 13 Sep 2020 18:18:17 +0000

A Medaglia d’Oro half-sister to leading second-crop sire and MGISW Constitution (Tapit) was the first to reach the seven-figure threshold during Sunday’s opening session of the Keeneland September sale when garnering a top bid of $1.1 million from Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm. Consigned by Denali Stud, Agent LIX as hip 58, the Mar. 21 foal was bred in a partnership between Bridlewood Farm and Don Alberto Corp. The powerful co-breeders paid a sale-topping $3.5 million for group-placed dam Baffled (Distorted Humor) in foal to Tapit at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Don Alberto subsequently bought out Bridlewood for $1.8 million while Baffled was carrying a full brother to hip 58 at last year’s renewal of that same sale.

“It was a little over; it was about what we expected, though,” said Pope’s bloodstock advisor Tod Quast. “It was a little more than we wanted to spend, but you are not going to get a bargain on a filly of that quality, even in this sale right now. We were super happy with her physical. We think she is a racehorse, but obviously she will be a broodmare later… [Pope] is a commercial breeder, but we race too and we are happy to have a good physical to race and when you have the pedigree side to go with it, it is a win-win.”

By Sunday, Whisper Hill had already sent another well-pedigreed filly back home–Pope made the decision to scratch hip 400, the first foal out of champion Songbird by the late superstar Arrogate. She paid $9.5 million for the mare.

“We didn’t really have a good Fasig sale,” Quast noted. “We love this filly and compare her to Songbird, so we just thought why sell her? She is already back in Ocala.”

Hip 58 is also a half to English Group 2 winner Boynton (More Than Ready) and American dirt GSW Jacaranda (Congrats). She hails from the deep female family of highest-level winners like Emcee and Awesome Humor.

“This filly was bred in partnership with Bridlewood,” noted Don Alberto’s Fernando Diaz-Valdes. “We have some foals out of her [together], including a filly who is at the farm. We’re very excited. She did what we wanted her to.”

Benvenutta, the 3-year-old Tapit filly who Baffled was carrying when Bridlewood and Don Alberto made their big buy, remains unraced and last breezed in October of 2019. Baffled’s 2-year-old Tapit colt Constitutional Law worked on Saturday for trainer Todd Pletcher (5f, 1:02.21, 16/30 over the Belmont training track). Baffled produced a full-brother to hip 58 this year and is carrying a Curlin filly.

Denali’s Conrad Bandoroff talks about the filly and the sale below.

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