High drama as Mandy Pope outbids all-comers at $8.2m for American Pharoah filly

In a breathtaking display of how dreams propel those who are able to play the racing game at the highest level, US breeder Mandy Pope turned back the world's most powerful operations to buy an incomparably bred daughter of American Pharoah in the third session of the September Sale on Wednesday, shattering the auction record price for a yearling filly in the process.

Still shaking after successfully bidding $8.2 million for the half sister to champion Beholder, top sire Into Mischief and Coolmore’s Grade 1 winner Mendelssohn, Pope said she kept on bidding despite the attempts of adviser Todd Quast to stop her.

“Very tough battle, big battle,” Pope declared. “I was persevering; he was trying to hold my hand down. He was getting pretty adamant about it [but] I’m getting older, going through the final phases of my life. And this is what I want to do.”

The price for the strongly-made yet beautifully feminine bay filly almost doubled the previous record for a filly at the Keeneland September sale set nearly two decades ago when Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Shadwell operation paid $4.4m for Moon’s Whisper, a Storm Cat filly out of French classic winner East of the Moon.

Fred Mitchell, who bred the American Pharoah filly with other members of his family at their Clarkland Farm near Paris, Kentucky, said he was shocked by the final price even though he praised the filly as the best foal he has raised from her Broodmare of the Year dam, Leslie’s Lady, a $100,000 bargain purchase in 2006.

“Yesterday when they had the $4.1m colt [purchased by Godolphin], I thought that would be the sale-topper by a lot. Then when Mandy Pope got in the bidding, it was just unreal,” Mitchell said, his voice softened by a tone of disbelief.

“She’s been unreal all her life,” he added of the filly. “After she was four or five days old you could see the natural muscle in her and she was a nice, correct filly. She never, ever went the wrong way.

"I don’t think she was ever sick a day in her life,” he said. “We had a minor problem once, but it was minor.

“She has just been wonderful to be around because her temperament is like ‘Leslie’s’ and then we wound up getting American Pharoah’s disposition in her, too.

"You just can’t imagine how good she is to be around. She just tries to please you with everything. She’s just as sweet and kind as you could want. And then when she wants to, she can explode. Not in a bad way, but she’s got life in her.”

Keeneland vice president Bob Elliston hugged Pope after the fireworks, exclaiming that her plunge was “incredible.”

The final price ranks as the co-fourth highest in the history of the entire Keeneland September sale, equal with that of a Storm Cat colt named Act Of Diplomacy bought by Sheikh Mohammed in 2006.

Meydan City, an $11.7m Kingmambo colt also sold to Sheikh Mohammed in 2006, remains the highest priced yearling ever to pass through the ring at this venue.

Pope has made many headlines in recent years with her broodmare purchases, including $10m Havre De Grace, the 2011 Horse of the Year by Saint Liam who she bought in November 2012 as a broodmare prospect. She paid $9.5m for multiple champion Songbird in 2017.

Asked to compare the American Pharoah filly with those other marquee purchases, Pope paused for a moment.

“She’s got a lot more pedigree than some of them but she doesn’t have the race record yet," she said. "So, we’ve got a lot of racing to do. Like everything else, it’s a big gamble. Fingers crossed, lots of prayers. Please wish us well.”

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