‘She’s A Standout’: Tiffany Case Keeps D.J. Stable In The Keeneland January Spotlight

[Wandering Eyes]

Six years after purchasing her at Keeneland November for $320,000 in 2019, Jonathan Green's D. J. Stable will return Tiffany Case (Uncle Mo) (hip 465) to the ring Monday in the opening session of this year's Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. The dam of Canadian champion 2-year-old filly and Eclipse Award finalist 3-year-old filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) has only continued to back up what Green initially saw in her as a then-unproven 6-year-old carrying her first foal, a Violence filly who became SW/MGSP Love to Shop.

“We were looking specifically for a mare that had some attributes that included black-type, a good race record, obviously top conformation, and from an up-and-coming family because we just couldn't afford to be able to buy into one of those top commercial families at the time,” Green said. “And Tiffany Case and her half-sister both ended up on our list.”

That half-sister, GSW/GISP Talk Veuve To Me (Violence), easily outshone her younger sibling when hammered down for $1,300,000 to Stonestreet Stable some 300 hips earlier in the day.

“Talk Veuve to Me obviously brought a heck of a lot more, almost $1,000,000 more, but she also had a more pronounced race record of her own,” Green said. “So when Tiffany Case came into the back ring, we all had crossed all our t's and conducted our due diligence. I'd like to say we knew that she was carrying a graded stakes horse in utero [Love to Shop], but that was certainly a bonus. She really wowed us conformation-wise and what we were most surprised about is that she'd won so many various tracks. She was a filly that had all the attributes we wanted from a genetic and a commercial standpoint. We stretched on her [price], but now looking back on it, she was very affordable.”

An earner of nearly six figures on the track, Tiffany Case earned five wins from 13 starts at Sam Houston, Mountaineer, Thistledown and Turfway Park and on her best day, picked up black type when third in the West Virginia Secretary of State Stakes. After failing to reach her reserve on a final bid of $250,000 at Keeneland November 2018 when initially retired from the track, she returned the following year in foal to Violence which Green admits was only an added bonus to her appeal.

“The family has done so well with Medaglia d'Oro and El Prado so for us, [her cover to Violence] was definitely a bonus,” Green said. “We knew that Violence was, at the time, an up-and-coming stallion. Of course now, he's a proven stallion. But it was a risk we were willing to take and we were obviously thrilled with her first foal, Love to Shop.”

And after supplying D. J. Stable with Love to Shop in 2020, who co-topped last year's Keeneland January Sale at $700,000 to Pin Oak Stud, as her first foal and Nitrogen as her second, Green knew the January market would be more than welcoming for a top-class mare in foal to a leading stallion just ahead of breeding season.

“We just completed a major reduction in the [Keeneland] November Sale and when we were deciding which of the mares to sell, wound up with 32 of them,” said Green. “And Tiffany Case wasn't on the list at the time primarily because Nitrogen wasn't really Nitrogen at that time. We were making these decisions back in July and for us, Nitrogen was a graded stakes winner and certainly on her way up but she hadn't yet put together the resume that she completed by the end of the year.”

A winner in her first five starts of 2025, Nitrogen ran second in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational at Saratoga July 5 before transitioning fully to the dirt, winning the GI Alabama Stakes Aug. 16 and running second in both the GI Juddmonte Spinster Stakes Oct. 5 and the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff Nov. 1 to wrap up her 3-year-old season. With over $2,000,000 now in earnings, Green felt confident that Nitrogen had elevated herself, and thus her dam, to the right point.

Love To Shop, the first foal out of Tiffany Case, co-topped the 2025 Keeneland January Sale | Keeneland

“For us, it was a matter of we felt like the top of the market, that there is definitely a dearth of talent, and not a lot of programs are willing to sell their top commercial mares,” Green said. “And we understand why because they're so coveted and so hard to come by. But for us, we're entrepreneurial and we 'okay, if the market is starving for top-class talent, we're going to fill that gap'. As sellers, we entered 32 mares in Keeneland November with the idea that we would sell 80% of them and we wound up with 100% clearance. That shows us again that the marketplace is really looking for top, top caliber horses. And spinning it forward, we originally bought Tiffany Case because she checked all those boxes and now she checks them even more because she's already had two fillies of racing age both of whom were graded stakes horses.”

“And now Nitrogen, winning the Sovereign Award for 2-year-old filly and now could likely win the Eclipse Award for 3-year-old filly. We felt like with all those things going for her, that the market is starving for Tiffany Case. And then you follow that up with her being in foal to arguably the top stallion in the country in Not This Time. It was very strategic [to put her in foal to him] because obviously, breeding her to Not This Time last year, we felt like we were catching lighting in a bottle and breeding to one of the best, young up-and-coming stallions. That was just another reason to put her in the sale here again because so many people are looking for that kind of quality. I would argue that Tiffany Case is probably going to be the most expensive horse and the sales-topper at Keeneland January. She's a standout.”

With Nitrogen set to be retained into the D. J. Stable broodmare band upon her retirement from racing in the future, and Green also retaining Tiffany Case's 2-year-old Gun Runner filly, he acknowledged it was the right time to test the market.

“Our goal, and again one of the reasons why Tiffany Case is in the sale, is that we're planning on keeping Nitrogen in our broodmare band for as long as she's around,” said Green. “And her half-sister, the 2-year-old Gun Runner filly now named Sniper, is also a filly that possesses really high grades conformation-wise and attitude-wise. Our plan is to also keep and campaign her and also keep her for our broodmare band. You can't replace a mare like a Tiffany Case but we're doing our best as we'll have two well-bred fillies that we'll keep in the broodmare band for hopefully the next decade.”

Coming off a record-setting Keeneland season where D.J. Stable picked up no fewer than 19 yearlings at the September Sale and three mares and two weanlings in November, Green seems content to play the January Sale by ear.

“I think we're going to just be on the watching end [from a buyer's perspective] in January,” Green said. “We know it's difficult to replace mare like Tiffany Case. So we'll take our time and try to find the next opportunity. If it comes at the January Sale, great. We're constantly looking and seeking out value. But I would feel more inclined to say that, until the prices start coming down to a more realistic point, we're probably just going to be watching more so than active buyers. I think the top of the market has always continually held onto that high level, regardless of the economy or the stock market or any other indicators.”

“We purposely put Tiffany Case in the January Sale as opposed to a digital sale because we felt like the January Sale is still a meeting place for people. People are coming in [to Kentucky] to see new stallions that have been retired. There's new announcements being made on almost a weekly basis as we go through this pre-breeding season period. I think people are always looking for a top mare and that's where Tiffany Case belongs.”

The post ‘She’s A Standout’: Tiffany Case Keeps D.J. Stable In The Keeneland January Spotlight appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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