Groupie Doll arrives in Kentucky, to be bred Saturday

Two-time champion Groupie Doll, who concluded her career earlier this month, has arrived in Kentucky to begin her career as a broodmare.

The 6-year-old Bowman’s Band mare, who was purchased for $3.1 million by Mandy Pope at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, is scheduled to be bred to Gainesway sire Tapit on Saturday. Groupie Doll will be boarded at Wayne and Cathy Sweezeys’ Timber Town Stable near Lexington, Ky., where Pope’s other mares – including Horse of the Year Havre de Grace and Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty – reside.

Groupie Doll concluded her career with a seven-length win in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie Stakes Feb. 9 at Gulfstream Park. She departed several days later to be let down and evaluated at GoldMark Farm in Ocala, Fla., prior to shipping to Kentucky this week.

Groupie Doll was bred in Kentucky by Fred Bradley and son William “Buff” Bradley. The mare was campaigned for the majority of her career by the Bradleys and partners Carl Hurst and Brent Burns, before Pope purchased her prior to her final two starts; Buff Bradley trained the mare throughout her career. Groupie Doll won 12 of 23 career starts, bankrolling $2,648,850. Her nine graded stakes victories included back-to-back triumphs in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, securing two divisional Eclipse Awards.