Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm went to a sale-topping $3.2 million to acquire Tiffany Case (Hip 465), the dam of grade 1 winner Nitrogen, deep into the Jan. 12 opening session of the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale.
Tiffany Case is a 13-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo, who was sold in foal to Taylor Made Stallions' marquee sire Not This Time . Besides multiple grade 1 winner Nitrogen, who is a finalist for Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly, she is also the dam of graded-placed stakes winner Love to Shop, who topped last year's January Sale at $700,000. Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for a DJ Stables graduate, consigned the mare.
The mare was purchased in 2019 by DJ Stable at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $320,000 in foal to Violence . The stable campaigned the mare's first two foals, and plans to race her 2-year-old filly Sniper, by Gun Runner .
"She's a really neat mare," said Frank Taylor of Taylor Made Sales. "She just has an A foal; every time she has a foal, it's an A individual. (Her Gun Runner filly) is a beauty. She’s going to run up here. She’ll be retained by the Greens (DJ Stables), and they’ll race her."
Taylor said he was expecting the mare to fall within the $2-3 million range.
"That was good money for her," Taylor said. "Not This Time had 17 yearlings bring over a million (dollars) this year, and none of them were bred as good as this foal’s going to be bred. Hopefully they have luck with it.
"You always love that, when a (bidding) battle happens. I thought the other mare (Simply in Front) could potentially top the sale. I was hoping (Tiffany Case) would, but the right people lined up on her, and she presented herself very well here at the sale. I think with Not This Time, he’s so hot right now, and Nitrogen being (nominated for Eclipse) champion 3-year-old (filly), everything was lined up."
Nitrogen has never finished off the board in all 12 career starts, winning six of them in 2025, and defeating grade 1 winners Good Cheer, Lush Lips, Scylla, and Thorpedo Anna under the care of Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Nitrogen is a graded stakes winner on the dirt and the turf, proving her versatility as a runner. She achieved grade 1 success last summer in the Alabama Stakes (G1), and capped off the year with two gallant runner-up finishes in the Spinster Stakes (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
