Keeneland: Owners enjoying last races with Groupie Doll [Lexington Herald-Leader]
By Alicia Wincze Hughes, Lexington Herald-Leader | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Any time a game-changing horse leaves a trainer's shedrow, emotions figure to run the gauntlet. When that horse is one you and your father bred and then developed into your farm's first champion, words alone don't begin to capture the complexities.
A month after Bradley's homebred champion Groupie Doll makes her expected start in
Parting with the daughter of Bowman's Band will help ensure the Bradleys and their partners can continue in the Thoroughbred industry. As sound a business decision it is, saying goodbye to family is rarely without its toll.
Ever since entries for the November sale were announced, Bradley has fielded his share of feedback wondering how he and his father, Fred, could possibly sell the mare they've raised since birth. With a Frankfort-based operation to run, family to tend to and the market at its strongest in years,
"It was very difficult and we talked about a lot of scenarios. We just didn't come to this overnight," said Bradley, who owns Groupie Doll along with his father and partners
"The thing with Groupie Doll is, you'd have to breed to a high-end stallion, obviously. The insurance on a horse of her value gets to be extremely high and ... there would be a lot more going into it than our normal small operation. If I thought it was financially affordable, I'd race her next year as long as she stayed sound. But even at the barn, we don't really talk about it too much, her selling."
Before the reality of that matter sets in, there are distractions of the racing kind for Bradley to focus on.
Groupie Doll goes into the 6-furlong
Physically, the Groupie Doll that won three Grade I races in 2012, including the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, appeared to come back with even more tools at her disposal this year.
What has buoyed Bradley's spirits as Groupie Doll readies for her Breeders' Cup title defense -- and final start in Bradley's care -- is her regaining her mental form.
"That race (at Ellis) wasn't a bad race at all the way she ran," Bradley said. "I think we knew then mentally she was just getting right, and right now she has matured so mentally. ... She has her game face on.
"I don't like to say I'm ever looking past a race but I'm looking forward to the Breeders' Cup. The way she is right now I'm ready to run her. I know this next race is something we're using to get there. But I feel our mare is just on top of her game now."
The TCA is one of five graded stakes on Keeneland's Saturday card, headlined by reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan taking on nine others in the Grade I,
Grade I winner Dayatthespa is the 9-5 morning-line choice in the Grade I First Lady Stakes while an overflow field of 16 were entered for the Grade I Dixiana Breeders' Futurity.
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