By no means underestimate a champion. This age-old lesson was reiterated to handicappers and racing followers alike when the sensational, speedy mare Groupie Doll defied age and expectations within the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Dash.
Groupie Doll wasn’t your typical “elite” racehorse. She wasn’t a blueblood with a trendy pedigree, nor did she promote for tens of millions of {dollars} as a yearling. As an alternative, she was a homebred racing for Fred Bradley and his son William “Buff” Bradley; in a while, Carl Hurst and Brent Burns joined the possession group.
Sure, from a pedigree perspective, Groupie Doll was hardly lower out to be a star. Her sire, Bowman’s Band, gained only a single graded stakes race throughout his lengthy profession, whereas her dam – the Silver Deputy mare Deputy Doll – gained a few minor races at Mountaineer after being bought by Fred Bradley for simply $25,000 as a yearling.
However what’s that different previous racing saying? “A very good horse can come from anyplace,” is a standard chorus. Regardless of her humble lineage, the chestnut filly Deputy Doll foaled on April 14, 2008, would develop as much as make a mockery of her regally-bred rivals.
Operating brief, operating lengthy, sprinting on dust and artificial tracks, stretching out on grass – Groupie Doll tried all of it throughout the early days of her racing profession. Beneath the affected person care of coach Buff Bradley, Groupie Doll went unraced as a 2-year-old and completed eighth in her debut on the Churchill Downs turf course the following 12 months, however when Bradley switched her to dust, she rattled off three straight victories culminating with the one-mile, Grade 3 Gardenia Stakes at Ellis Park.
However simply as shortly as Groupie Doll gained three straight races, she managed to lose three straight. For a time, she developed the behavior of operating effectively with out profitable at quite a lot of distances. She was second within the Charles City Oaks. Second within the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes. Third within the Grade 3 Sabin Stakes. Third once more within the Grade 2 Inside Data Stakes.
By this level, Groupie Doll was 4 years previous, and it was clear she had the expertise of a critical racehorse. She simply didn’t appear to be delivering on her true potential. Oftentimes, she could be lackadaisical within the early levels of her races, falling far off the tempo earlier than rallying down the homestretch too late to problem for victory.
Then Buff Bradley made the fateful resolution to equip Groupie Doll with blinkers for the Grade 1 Vinery Madison Stakes at Keeneland.
“In a number of of her races, I don’t assume she was as forwardly positioned early within the race as we’d like,” Bradley commented in a narrative by Evan Hammonds within the April 21, 2012, version of BloodHorse journal. “We thought if we may get her a bit nearer, then she’d be proper there when it was time to kick in.”
The plan labored to perfection. Centered by the blinkers, Groupie Doll out of the blue shrugged off her previous habits and matured into an expert racehorse – a beast of a racehorse at that. Her seven rivals within the Madison by no means knew what hit them as Groupie Doll stayed near the tempo, swept into competition across the far flip, and powered clear down the homestretch to win by three lengths.
Bradley had unleashed a monster and the very best was nonetheless to come back. As spring transitioned to summer time, and summer time to fall, Groupie Doll rattled off victories within the Grade 1 Humana Distaff, the Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes, and the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Membership of America Stakes. She was by no means remotely challenged, and within the Humana Distaff, she truly vied for the early lead earlier than obliterating reigning champion feminine sprinter Musical Romance by 7 ¼ lengths.
This exceptional streak of success stamped Groupie Doll as an awesome favourite for the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Dash at Santa Anita, and she or he lived as much as expectations along with her greatest efficiency but. Going through a deep area of proficient sprinters, Groupie Doll casually tracked the tempo whereas racing huge, got here roaring into competition across the flip, and galloped house in trademark model to attain by 4 ½ lengths.
Groupie Doll’s breathtaking efficiency was thought-about a shock spotlight of that 12 months’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships, however for Fred Bradley, the consequence was something however surprising. “I don’t know what they’re stunned about,” he remarked in The Los Angeles Occasions of Nov. 4, 2012. “We thought she was going to win all the best way.”
Groupie Doll’s sensational season made her a shoo-in for the Eclipse Award because the champion feminine sprinter of 2012. She may need even had a shot at Horse of the 12 months honors had she defeated males within the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, her bold seasonal finale, however the one-mile distance proved a bit too far and she or he got here up a nostril brief in opposition to the completed Keep Thirsty.
Stored in coaching as a 5-year-old in 2013, Groupie Doll was extensively anticipated to embark on one other championship marketing campaign. However following a short winter sickness at Gulfstream Park, Groupie Doll appeared lower than enthusiastic when resuming coaching, and Bradley elected to provide the mare a number of months off at his household’s Indian Ridge Farm in Kentucky.
At Indian Ridge Farm, Groupie Doll spent the winter and spring simply appearing like an extraordinary horse. She was allowed to frolic as she happy in a paddock with Brass Hat, the Bradleys’ tough-as-nails gelding who had retired in 2010 after profitable 10 races and greater than $2 million throughout a embellished profession. Slowly however absolutely, Groupie Doll’s enthusiasm returned.
“Turned out with Brass Hat the final couple weeks, we thought she was getting a bit extra aggressive in the direction of him, simply operating round extra like she actually wished to get out and do one thing,” Bradley remarked in a narrative by Claire Crosby on Bloodhorse.com. Certainly, when Groupie Doll returned to coaching at Churchill Downs that summer time, she promptly fired off two quick exercises to sign her readiness for racing.
“I do know we’ve finished loads of groundwork and prepping her to get her to her breezes, and I do know she’s match thanks partly to Brass Hat,” Bradley added. “There’s little doubt in my thoughts that he helped; they did loads of operating within the area.”
Racing followers and handicappers have been nonetheless skeptical whether or not Groupie Doll may defend her Breeders’ Cup and championship titles. When she returned to motion within the Gardenia Stakes going a mile, she stumbled at the beginning and couldn’t discover the stamina to succeed in the leaders within the ultimate eighth of a mile, settling for third place behind a pair of main longshots.
Groupie Doll fared higher when scoring a repeat victory within the Presque Isle Downs Masters, however she was again to her previous behavior of charging from far behind, and her margin of victory – simply 1 ½ lengths – wasn’t as dominant as in 2012. Extra doubters emerged when Groupie Doll pale to 3rd place within the Thoroughbred Membership of America Stakes, overwhelmed pretty and squarely by rising star Judy the Magnificence.
However because the saying goes, by no means underestimate a champion. The Bradleys by no means misplaced confidence of their star mare, and when Groupie Doll returned to Santa Anita for the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Dash, it was as if somebody had flipped a change. Whether or not it was the seven-furlong distance, the dust racing floor, Bradley’s affected person coaching, or a mixture of all three, Groupie Doll reached again to her glory days and delivered a championship-caliber efficiency.
With common rider Rajiv Maragh within the saddle, Groupie Doll stayed inside vary of a quick tempo. She moved as much as problem on the flip. She solid to the entrance within the homestretch, opening up a two-length lead.
After which, as Judy the Magnificence closed in strongly with one other upset on her thoughts, Groupie Doll dug deep. She refused to yield. Tenaciously discovering a bit one thing further, Groupie Doll matched strides with Judy the Magnificence down the lane and held on to win by half a size.
“She’s the very best,” Buff Bradley stated in a post-race recap by Tom LaMarra printed on Bloodhorse.com. “I am so glad she received to point out that right this moment. Nobody on my group ever misplaced confidence in her. We have at all times recognized how good she is.”
Following the Breeders’ Cup, Groupie Doll was offered for $3.1 million to Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm. With Bradley staying on as coach, Groupie Doll ran twice extra earlier than retirement, ending her profession with a robust seven-length triumph within the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Not surprisingly, Groupie Doll was as soon as once more honored as champion feminine sprinter, turning into the primary (and thus far solely) horse to win the award a number of instances. As they are saying, by no means underestimate a champion. Simply whenever you assume they’re down and out, they’re apt to combat again and remind you who’s boss.
Observe: This story was initially printed in 2019 and has been up to date.
Enjoyable Info
- Groupie Doll retired with a document of 12 wins, 4 seconds, and 4 thirds from 23 begins, with earnings of $2,648,850.
- In 2015, Ellis Park renamed the Gardenia Stakes in Groupie Doll’s honor. The race is now often called the Groupie Doll Stakes.
- Groupie Doll’s first foal, Tapability, was born in 2015. The Tapit gelding gained a maiden particular weight race at Gulfstream Park by 9 lengths on Sep. 14, 2019.
- Groupie Doll has produced six foals with 4 winners from as many starters via Sept. 23, 2024, however no stakes winners to this point.
- Reiterating the standard of Groupie Doll’s victory within the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Dash, runner-up Judy the Magnificence got here again to win the race in 2014 and declare championship honors of her personal.
