Groupie Doll, the champion female sprinter of 2012, returned to Churchill
Downs on Monday after spending about three months at Indian Ridge Farm near
Frankfort, Kentucky.
Trainer Buff Bradley, who owns
Groupie Doll in partnership with his father Fred as well as Carl Hurst and Brent
Burns, sent the five-year-old mare home in early February after she was not
training to his satisfaction at Gulfstream Park.
That has not been the case this time
around.
“Is it a 180-degree turnaround from
Florida? Absolutely,” Buff Bradley said. “She has really good energy and she
wants to do it. I knew we were good and did not anticipate any problems bringing
her back.”
One of the reasons Bradley was
confident about his star’s return was the time spent at the farm sharing a
pasture with the 12-year-old gelding Brass Hat.
“‘Brass’ was training her,” Bradley
said of the previous stable star who earned more than $2.1 million in his
career. “They would run for 10 minutes and Brass was so smart, he would cut the
corner on her and when they were done, she was really blowing.”
Bradley plans to jog Groupie Doll all
this month and not begin galloping until June with plenty of time to map out a
campaign for 2013.
In Groupie Doll’s absence, Aubby K took over her title in last Saturday’s
Humana Distaff. James Spence’s homebred did not stick around
Churchill Downs too long after her 1 1/2-length victory, her first in a Grade 1.
“She flew out the next day to Saratoga,” trainer Ralph Nicks said
of Aubby K.
“She came out of the race fine. I have had the pleasure to be around some good
horses and it feels good to have one of my own.”
Although Nicks has his eye on the
Princess Rooney at Calder going six furlongs on July 6, the seven-furlong
Ballerina at the Spa August 23 is the primary goal.
“Our main summer objective is the Ballerina at Saratoga. She runs well
fresh,” the trainer added.
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