Pope Acquires Two Seven-Figure Tapit Fillies

Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm bought two back-to-back Tapit   fillies, each for seven figures, during the late stages of Book 1's final session Sept. 14 at the Keeneland September yearling sale.

First up for Pope was Hip 582, a half sister to millionaire Gun Runner, bought for $1.4 million from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment.

Pope next turned around and secured a Tapit filly out grade II winner Quiet Temper for $1.1 million, also from Taylor Made. Both fillies were bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys and Besilu Stables.

Although both were sired by Tapit, Pope said they were "two terribly different fillies. One had very little resemblance to the other one."

Analyzing each, Pope said, "The first Tapit (hip 582), the half to Gun Runner, is more of your usual Tapit conformation, Tapit size. The other filly is much larger and scopier and leggier than your normal Tapits. But we fell in love with her; she reminded us a great deal of (Whisper Hill's grade I-placed) Tap to It; we've been calling her 'Tap to It, Jr.' all week. And Tap to It is a different type of Tapit too. The year before we bought Tap to It and Tapping Colors, and they were the same thing: two entirely different Tapits."

Pope said she was uncertain of who will train the fillies that will go to Whisper Hill in Florida to be broken and ready for racing.

"We don't know," she said of trainer plans. "That's a year away, we can't plan that far in advance. It's hard to plan a week in advance around horses."

Pope's two filly purchases came at the end of a hectic 24-hour period for her at the Keeneland sale. The previous day, a War Front   colt produced from Whisper Hill's Havre de Grace, a three-time champion and Horse of the Year, was bought back for $1.9 million. The colt's reserve price was to have been $1.19 million, but was incorrectly turned in to Keeneland as $1.9 million by consignor Wayne Sweezey of Timber Town. Initially, there was some confusion about whether the colt had sold and Pope later explained the circumstances and Sweezey took full responsibility.

Pope said the colt will be sent to her farm and that there is a possibility he could be raced in patnership.

"I think God wanted me to keep him, so he will be on his way back to Florida," she said. "And I'm sure if anyone is interested, they know how to get in touch with me or Wayne. I'm going to get him back home and back into his happy environment."

Erin Shea contributed to this article.