Talk about patience paying off.
Green Lantern Stables' lightly raced 6-year-old homebred A. P. Indian, a narrow last out winner of the GIII Belmont Sprint Championship S. July 9, added to his perfect 2016 season with a career high here giving Saratoga's 1:08 track record a good run for its money in the process.
A.P. Indian pressed GII Smile Sprint S. winner Delta Bluesman (Wagon Limit) on the outside from second through early splits of :22.26 and :44.63. Drawing on even terms with that pacesetter as 'TDN Rising Star' Holy Boss joined the duo to the outside at the top of the stretch, A.P. Indian still had plenty left in the tank as those two hooked up in the stretch, and began to edge clear late to get the money.
“I thought he fit well with these horses,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said. “It was a little tricky, but knowing he's in good form right now, we thought we had a shot. I had a lot of faith in the horse. If you look at his career, he's had some minor setbacks. But all the time he comes back. He seems to come back even stronger. It's worth giving him time for that. We'll see how he comes back. He ran three weeks and three weeks before. We'd love to see how he comes back. It's a little too far away [the Breeders' Cup]. We'll see.”
A.P. Indian, previously trained by George Arnold, won three of six starts since transferring to Delacour's barn last term, headed by wins in Monmouth's Decathlon S. and Parx's Donald Levine Memorial H. He closed out the campaign with a pair of sixth-place finishes in Saratoga's Tale of the Cat S. Aug. 23 and Keeneland's GIII Phoenix S. Oct. 2.
Placed first through disqualification after crossing the line second behind Delta Bluesman in the Decathlon S. at Monmouth May 14, he followed with a three-length decision in the Donald Levine Memorial S. at Parx June 18 prior to his aforementioned tally over 'TDN Rising Star' Marking (Bernardini) in Elmont.
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 earlier on the card in Saratoga's GII Amsterdam S., and last year's GII Indiana Derby hero Tiz Shea D (Tiznow). Ender's Sister 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.
Saturday, Saratoga
ALFRED G. VANDERBILT H.-GI, $350,000, SAR, 7-30, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:08.25, ft.
1–&A. P. INDIAN, 118, 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. $210,000. Lifetime Record: 15-9-4-0, $737,434. *1/2 to
Tiz Shea D (Tiznow), GSW, $460,056; Its All Relevant (Hard
Spun), GSP, $142,065. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
[bullet ad=”kbif-g1″]2–Holy Boss, 119, c, 4, Street Boss–Holy Grace, by Holy Bull.
($135,000 Ylg '13 KEESEP). O-Jerry Durant; B-Adena Springs
(KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $70,000.
[bullet ad=”bred-raised-sold-adena”]3–Catalina Red, 119, c, 4, Munnings">Munnings–Lovely Dream, by Freud.
($55,000 Ylg '13 OBSAUG; $71,000 2yo '14 OBSAPR).
O-Anthony A. Lenci; B-France & Irwin J. Weiner (FL); T-Jorge
Navarro. $35,000.
[bullet ad=”selectsales-shell”][bullet ad=”demericsales-purchaseandgraduate”]Margins: 1 1/4, 1HF, 1HF. Odds: 4.70, 3.30, 7.90.
Also Ran: Delta Bluesman, All Star Red, Anchor Down, Chublicious, Requite. 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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