Groupie Doll: One Classy Mare
Sunday, February 9 was just another gloriously sunny afternoon at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida.But for one coppery chestnut mare and the millions who have followed her career: it was anything but an ordinary day.
This was Groupie Doll’s final trip to the starting gate.
William “Buff” Bradley trained the daughter of Bowman’s Band to a stellar 23-12-4-4 record with over $2.6million in earnings and back-to-back Champion Female Sprinter honors. Bred by Buff and his father Fred, the mare was campaigned by the Bradley’s until after her second Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint victory: after which she was sold for $3.1 million at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale to Whisper Hill Farm’s Mandy Pope.
Making the rare decision to keep the mare in training instead of shipping straight to the breeding shed, Groupie Doll went back to the Bradley barn and would make the last two starts of her storied career: ending with a total of 9 graded stakes victories.
Here are our favorite Groupie Doll moments…
5. 2012 G2 Thoroughbred Club of America
As a final prep for the Breeders’ Cup, Groupie Doll ran in Keeneland’s signature sprint for older females. After breaking well in the field of nine, Groupie Doll settled in hand and made her move on the turn, finding some traffic trouble at the quarter pole before drawing off to a daylight 6-1/2 length margin.
“I was never convinced that she adored synthetic surfaces, yet she won the Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland in such convincing fashion in 2012 despite lacking room at the quarter pole. Even in defeat at Keeneland last fall
[in the 2013 Thoroughbred Club of America], she was so professional. It made me think of when people say that a basketball player looks good in his form and fundamentals, even when he has an "off" night shooting the ball. She always carried herself with presence and dignity, whether in a win or a loss.” – Keeneland track announcer Kurt Becker
4. Running Against the Boys
In a rare move for modern mares, Groupie Doll faced males three times in her career. She never beat the boys, but – tellingly for a talented sprinter – all three tries were at a flat mile.
The first of her impressive tries found her facing the likes of G1 winner Boys at Tosconova in an Allowance event at Gulfstream (click here for video)
The second was arguably the best race of her career: a whisker of a loss to Stay Thirsty in the G1 Cigar Mile
In a rare move for modern mares, Groupie Doll faced males three times in her career. She never beat the boys, but – tellingly for a talented sprinter – all three tries were at a flat mile.
The first of her impressive tries found her facing the likes of G1 winner Boys at Tosconova in an Allowance event at Gulfstream (click here for video)
The second was arguably the best race of her career: a whisker of a loss to Stay Thirsty in the G1 Cigar Mile
Perhaps she should be excused for the third and final try: in the 2013 Cigar Mile, she ran into heavy traffic and never quite got to run her race
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