A. P. Indian earned the slimmest of decisions in this 'Win and You're In' contest for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint to extend his winning streak to five.
Deciding to skip Belmont's GI Vosburgh S. last Saturday due to a sloppy track, the bay was made a prohibitive 2-5 favorite here. Tracking the pace from second along the inside past a :22.35 quarter after breaking from post one, A. P. Indian was shuffled back to fourth on the far turn. Tipping into the clear at the top of the lane, he confronted Limousine Liberal approaching the sixteenth pole and appeared ready to blow past that one, but encountered a determined foe, and the two matched strides to the wire with A. P. Indian just getting a nostril down first while establishing a new track record.
“I was worried since the three-eighths pole when he got shuffled back,” winning trainer Arnaud Delacour commented. “I knew it was going to be tough to make up ground. The horse who finished second has a great performance on this track; he likes this track. So I knew it was going to be tough to get it done. He did a great job.”
Winning jockey Joe Bravo added, “He's just been a champion all along since the first time I saw him. Everybody warned me before the race, 'Watch the one post.' They broke away from the gates so sharply. It's hard to keep going all the way. What makes this horse so special is he listens. He breathes, relaxes. Hopefully, he just keeps doing what he's doing.”
A. P. Indian began his winning streak with a title defense in the Donald Levine Memorial S. June 18 at Parx, then earned a game victory in the GIII Belmont Sprint Championship July 9. The Green Lantern homebred reeled off a pair of Grade I victories this summer at Saratoga in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. July 30 and GI Priority One Jets Forego S. most recently Aug. 27.
Pedigree Notes:
A. P. Indian is out of fellow Richard Masson homebred and three-time stakes winner Ender's Sister. The 15-year-old mare has also produced Its All Relevant (Hard Spun), third in Saratoga's GII Amsterdam S.; and last year's GII Indiana Derby hero Tiz Shea D (Tiznow). Ender's Sister, a full-sister to Ender's Shadow, SW & MGSP, $291,612, has a 2-year-old filly named Dragon Army (Giant's Causeway); a yearling filly by Distorted Humor; and had a colt by Noble Mission (GB) earlier this year. She was bred back to Pioneerof the Nile.
Friday, Keeneland
STOLL KEENON OGDEN PHOENIX S.-GII, $250,000, KEE, 10-7, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:08.43 (NTR), ft.
1–A. P. INDIAN, 124, g, 6, by Indian Charlie
1st Dam: Ender's Sister (MSW & MGSP, $525,048), by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Gold Rush Queen, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Fit for a Queen, by Fit to Fight
O/B-Green Lantern Stables, LLC (KY); T-Arnaud Delacour; J-Joe
Bravo. $150,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 17-11-4-0, $1,262,434.
*1/2 to Tiz Shea D (Tiznow), GSW, $461,256. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
*Triple Plus*.[bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Limousine Liberal, 120, g, 4, Successful Appeal–Gift of Gab,
by In Excess (Ire). O-Katherine G. Ball; B-Mike & Katherine Ball
(KY); T-Ben Colebrook. $50,000.
3–Ami's Flatter, 120, c, 4, Flatter–Galloping Ami, by Victory
Gallop. O-Ivan Dalos; B-Tall Oaks Farm (ON); T-Josie Carroll.
$25,000.[bullet ad=”webb-carroll-another-wctc-grad”][bullet ad=”ontario-bred”]Margins: NO, 3HF, NO. Odds: 0.40, 6.20, 4.70.
Also Ran: Alsvid, The Great War, W. B. Smudge, Cinco Charlie. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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