The second horse to walk through the arena on the second night of Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga Sale on August 6 broke the seven-figure barrier, selling from the Gainesway consignment to Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm for $1.5 million.

Hip 123 is a chestnut foal by Arms smugglers from the multiple class 1 winning mare Pure Clan (Pure Prize), who retired with earnings of nearly $2 million. Hip 123 was bred by Three Chimneys Farm, which maintains Gun Runner for a private fee. She is a half-sister to the multiple graduate stakes-placed Princess Carolina (Tapit ), bred and trained by Three Chimneys.

“Her mare was obviously a great racemare and we hope she inherits those genes,” Pope said after recoiling in mock shock as a phalanx of reporters surrounded her after the hammer blow. “The family is young and has some half-sisters who will hopefully continue to produce. This filly is beautiful, big, strong and sensible from what we have seen.”

Pope owns perhaps the most successful broodmare herd in the country and is happy to offer top dollar for mares and foals she wants to add to her Whisper Hill Farm, but the fierce competition at the auction is putting even her off.

“We paid exactly what we expected to pay,” she said. “It’s extremely difficult to buy anything here. We were pretty outbid yesterday, but you have to appreciate the value of the property and stick to your opinion.”

Earlier this year, Whisper Hill Farm’s Leslie’s Rose won the Ashland Stakes (G1) and ran in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), races that Pope also has her eye on for this mare. She will wait until the mare is a little older to decide who will train the horse.

“She will tell us when she is ready which trainer is right for her,” she said. “We are looking for the trainer that fits the horse, not the horse that fits the trainer.”