A.P. Indy

The Rise Of The Super Sire: Concentration, Book Size And Economics Have Reshaped Thoroughbred Breeding

By the early 2000s, the commercial Thoroughbred breeding industry still resembled a relatively broad ecosystem. Elite stallions mattered enormously, but a wide range of sires maintained meaningful market share, regional programs remained viable, and biological limits naturally constrained how dominant any one stallion could become. That landscape has changed dramatically. A review of sire progeny earnings distributions from 2001 through 2025 reveals one of the clearest long-term structural shifts in modern Thoroughbred breeding: an increasingly small number of stallions now account for a growing share of the sport's economic output....

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Kentucky Derby Handicapping Event Kicks Off Keeneland Lecture Series

The Keeneland Library's spring-summer programs will kick off with a handicapping event with racing analyst Tom Leach on Apr. 29 to discuss contenders for the Kentucky Derby and that weekend's supporting races. The event precedes the Library Lecture Series which will spotlight legendary racing announcer Tom Durkin; champion racehorses A.P. Indy, Cody's Wish and Holy Bull; and a memorable journey on a retired racehorse by an acclaimed author. "We are really excited about Keeneland Library's lineup of upcoming events and being able to feature expert handicapper Tom Leach and master...

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Gainesway's Charge It Welcomes First Foals At Machmer Hall, Darby Dan

The first two reported foals for Gainesway Farm's MGSW Charge It (by Tapit) were born Jan. 5, with one arriving at the Brogden family's Machmer Hall in Paris, Kentucky, and the other being delivered at Darby Dan Farm outside of Lexington, Kentucky, the stallion outfit said via a Tuesday release. Machmer Hall oversaw the arrival of a bay colt, the first foal out of SP Six Sense (Violence). A half-sister to SW Xanthique (Into Mischief), out of the GSP mare Qualia (Saarland), Six Sense was a $105,000 purchase at the...

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Maxfield's Magna Victor Monstrous On Hanshin Debut, Becomes a 'Rising Star'

The Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby does not officially begin until the end of November with the running of the Cattleya Stakes at Tokyo, but Sanshisuimei Co. Ltd.'s debuting Magna Victor (c, 2, Maxfield--Eyeinthesky, by Sky Mesa) became one of the earliest to join the party when storming clear to take his 1400-meter debut by the better part of 10 lengths Saturday afternoon at Hanshin. With Yuga Kawada in the irons, Magna Victor was not the quickest away, but he quickly recovered and by the time the field had...

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Pensioned WinStar Stallion Congrats Dies At 25

Former WinStar stallion Congrats (A.P. Indy--Praise, by Mr. Prospector) passed away Monday at the age of 25. The news was confirmed by Scott Kintz who heads Six K's Training & Sales at Florida's Woodford Thoroughbreds where the pensioned stallion retired in 2021. A GSW/MGISP son of A.P. Indy, Congrats won the 2005 GII San Pasqual Handicap and earned placings in the GI Santa Anita Handicap and the GI Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap while also finishing fifth behind Roses In May (Devil His Due) in the 2005 G1 Emirates Airline Dubai...

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Saturday's Insights: Charlatan Colt Running For A 'Track Legend' On Debut at Churchill

1st-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5f, 12:45 p.m. ET. The news broke this past week that Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas would be stepping down as the head of his stable because of health reasons and assistant Bas Nicholl would be taking over for the man known to many as 'Coach.' In Saturday's opener on the card, the aptly-named TRACK LEGEND (Charlatan) will be unveiled for owner Live the Legacy with Lukas still listed in the program. Out of Canadian champion female sprinter Moonlit Promise (Malibu Moon), the dark...

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Second Chances: Casse Pointing Well-Bred Maiden Americathegreat to Debutante

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. The beautifully bred maiden of one career start Americathegreat (f, 2, Curlin--America, by A.P. Indy) is being aimed at the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs June 29, per Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. "She's shown me some things that I haven't seen very many times," Casse said. "Allen Jerkens always told me, 'You don't judge a horse until they run five times.' But I think she's...

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Items from the Estate of Virginia Kraft Payson on Offer via Bluegrass Auction in June

Items from the estate of the late Virginia Kraft Payson, proprietor of Payson Stud in Lexington and Payson Park Training Center in Florida, will be offered over the course of five auctions via Bluegrass Auction, Appraisal & Realty in June. Showcasing Payson's extensive collections of fine jewelry, rare antiques, and numerous paintings and prints--some numbered and from limited runs--over 1,200 items will be put on offer June 15-22. Said works are by renown sporting artists like Henry Stull, Jenness Cortez, Fred Stone, and Peter Howell, and include topics such as...

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Half A Century Holding Your Horses

No doubt about it, the folks at Hagyards seem to have found themselves a promising intern. Still early days, mind. Richard Holder has only been there 53 years. In fact, Dr. Holder believes himself the first beneficiary of an official internship at the storied Lexington firm, founded in 1876, albeit Dr. William McGee himself was evidently granted a similar opening, less formally, by Dr. Charles Hagyard in 1940. (By 1953 the firm was renamed Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates.) In either case, safe to say that the internship model started pretty well. Holder...

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The Acorn That Made Oak Tree Mighty

You would want to go easy with that lot in the trailer. "Weekend had the box stall in the back by herself," Callan Strouss recalls. "She was the queen back there, and the boys were riding on the ground level." This was back in 1984 and, for Lane's End, a radical departure. Because when its longest-serving employee was first hired by William S. Farish III--longest, at any rate, since his old buddy Mike Cline retired as manager in 2020--there had been no sense that the farm might become what this...

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Medaglia d'Oro Half to Honor Code Debuts at Naas

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Sunday's Observations features the half-sister to an American multiple Grade I winner.  13.57 Naas, Mdn, €18,000, 2yo, f, 5f 205yT DRAMATIC (Medaglia D'Oro) was a $1.5-million purchase by Coolmore at the 2022 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and becomes the latest Aidan O'Brien juvenile to come out to play....

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HRRN To Celebrate 'A.P. Indy Week' In Belmont Lead Up

Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) will celebrate 'A.P. Indy Week' in the lead up to Saturday's GI Belmont S. Announced via release Monday, HRRN noted that 'A.P. Indy Week' will run Monday, June 3 through Saturday, June 8 and feature tributes to the 1992 Belmont winner and late Lanes End stallion. Listeners will also hear replays of some of his biggest wins and interviews with some of his connections looking back on his racing career. A Keeneland September Sale topper at $2.9m, A.P. Indy (Seattle Slew) was consigned by Lanes...

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