STARS AND STRIPES AND STAR-SPANGLED BANNERS

Jean Cruguet with A.P. Arrow
(Image : Leigh Willson)

JEAN CRUGUET
“1977 US Triple Crown Winning Jockey”

If there’s any virtue in hardship, it’s that it makes us appreciate the good times when they come around, and there are any number of stories among the champions of the business, political and sporting worlds of people who grew up tough. How many kids have emerged from poverty with a greater hunger than their coddled contemporaries, how many rags-to-riches stories are there of people who’ve been driven by the memories of their deprivation and their envy of those who had it all?

Just as France’s “impregnable” Maginot Line was overrun by German invasionary forces in the spring of 1939, a toddler who was to inscribe his name into thoroughbred lore, was born to an impoverished French family in Agen. At the tender age of 5, Jean Cruguet was placed in an orphanage after his father abandoned the family, leaving his mother destitute. She had no choice, and from 10 to 16, the young Cruguet lived at a secondary school run by Catholic priests, where he faced all sorts of abuses, not the least because he was the smallest guy in the school. At 16, his size became his greatest asset, as an associate of his grandfather offered him work at a thoroughbred racetrack. A budding career in its embryo stages as a jockey was interrupted by mandatory military service in the French Foreign Legion in Algeria. Cruguet returned to thoroughbred racing after four years, and replaced the army-bound future champion, Yves St-Martin at the all-conquering stable of Francois Mathet, famed for his association with the Dupre horses which were to form the foundation in later years of the Aga Khan’s powerful breeding enterprise. A chance liaison led to his marriage to the supremely talented horsewoman, Denyse, a pioneering female in the French racing industry. Later in life, Jean acknowledged her abundant skills of horsemanship, when he said she was “the best horse I ever rode”. They soon decided to take their chances in the United States; it was the beginning of an explosion.

Cruguet had hardly arrived when he was offered the plum position of stable jockey for the celebrated conditioner, Horatio Luro, famed for polishing the talents of one of America’s greatest racehorses and certainly the world’s greatest stallion of all time, Northern Dancer. In 1969 he gave notice of things to come when he replaced Roberto’s rider, Braulio Baeza on the future Hall Of Fame inductee, Arts And Letters, charging home in the time-honoured Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. In 1971, he was connected with the horse he claimed was the best he’d thrown a leg over thus far, coaxing Hoist The Flag to an unbeaten two and three-year-old campaign. Hoist The Flag suffered a career-ending injury in his preparation for the Wood Memorial in the lead up to the Kentucky Derby; the decision to pack him off to stud at the Hancock’s Claiborne Farm denying the colt a shot at the Triple Crown. That was the beginning of a highly productive career at stud where his progeny included the dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe champion, Alleged. The cruelty of fate raised its head again, when Hoist The Flag broke a leg at a time when his stud life was just beginning to blossom.

Little did Cruguet realise that there were even bigger fish to fry in the United States, as he and his wife decided to return to France for the 1972 season; this time he landed with his proverbial “bum-in-the-butter”, as he swept the major Group One races for fillies including the Prix Vermeille and the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches in France, as well as the Champion Stakes in England and wound up second in an abbreviated calendar in the French Jockey’s Championship. In the final session, he strapped his saddle over the back of the champion San San, whom he rode to all her wins, including the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for the storied Angel Penna Snr, bar one, and that was the only one that mattered to a Frenchman. He was prevented by injury from taking the ride in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and the filly duly obliged for the flamboyant Countess Bathiany.

Jean Cruguet
Career Record 

MAJOR RACING WINS
Travers Stakes	1968
Metropolitan Handicap	1969
Toboggan Handicap	1969
Lawrence Realization Stakes	1969/1970/1975/1978
Cowdin Stakes	1970
Laurel Futurity	1970
Prix Vermeille	1972
Poule d’Essai des Pouliches	1972
Champion Stakes	1973
Manhattan Handicap	1974
Stuyvesant Handicap	1974
Alabama Stakes	1975/1983
Hopeful Stakes	1975/1976
Champagne Stakes	1976
Mother Goose Stakes	1976/1977
Flamingo Stakes	1977
Wood Memorial Stakes	1977/1984
Kentucky Derby	1977
Preakness Stakes	1977
Belmont Stakes	1977
US Triple Crown	1977
Futurity Stakes	1978
Washington DC International Stakes	1978/1993
Canadian International Stakes	1978/1989
Jerome Handicap	1979
Ladies Handicap	1979
Saranac Handicap	1979
Withers Stakes	1979
Blue Grass Stakes	1983
Tremont Stakes	1983
Coaching Club American Oaks	1984
Dwyer Stakes	1984
Knickerbocker Handicap	1985/1986/1988/1992

Cruguet paid us a surprise visit on Sunday, having been advised by any number of Kentucky horseman, that if he was to make the journey to South Africa, he was compelled to visit Summerhill. He tells us that his childhood reminds him constantly that life gives you one chance, and you need to make the best of it while you have your faculties about you. He and Denyse returned to the United States in 1973, and it wasn’t long before the diminutive Frenchman was setting the tracks of America alight again. The crowning moment came in 1976, when he teamed up with Billy Turner to ride the two-year-old colt Seattle Slew, who’d at $17,000 had been pretty much overlooked at the sales. “Slew” cruised to victory in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, crowning an unbeaten season, and claiming the Juvenile champion’s title, as well as putting his hand up as a legitimate contender for the Triple Crown. To put this into perspective, the previous Triple Crown winner was Secretariat in 1971, and before him you’d have to go back to Citation in the 40s. The most recent Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978, and no horse or rider since has been good enough to do it.

Watch Seattle Slew winning the 1977 Kentucky Derby
(Image : Racing Archives - Footage : Awis Dooger)

Seattle Slew warmed up for the Kentucky Derby with facile victories in the Wood Memorial and Flamingo Stakes (both Group Ones) on his way to the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs. His running style was on the lead, and as he took his place in the stalls for the 103^rd renewal of America’s most famous race, he was the only unbeaten aspirant for the Triple Crown in history, never headed for a single yard in any race before. He jumped awkwardly however, and for the first time, he missed the break: within a hundred yards there was just one horse behind him, and Cruguet knew he was in trouble. He shook the reigns for a moment, and surged through the field to be second before the horses entered the clubhouse turn, then proceeded to destroy his field in the closing 600 metres with a spectacular display of power galloping. It was the same story in the Preakness Stakes, and while Cruguet maintains to this day that Seattle Slew’s best trip was at a mile, his class carried him unchallenged to heroism in the Belmont Stakes, to complete the third leg.

In a moment which still occupies the columns of journals more than 35 years down the road, attracting praise and derision in equal measure, with more than 30 yards to the finish line, Cruguet raised himself out of the saddle in triumph in the manner of a gladiator, extending his right arm over his head and saluting jubilantly to an equally jubilant mass numbering well over 150,000. It’s against the rules, we know, but this was a Triple Crown hero in the true sense of the word, and in any event, there was nothing in sight to alter the outcome.

Seattle Slew
Career Record

MAJOR WINS
Champagne Stakes	1976
Wood Memorial Stakes	1977
Flamingo Stakes	1977
Kentucky Derby	1977
Preakness Stakes	1977
Belmont Stakes	1977
Woodward Stakes	1978
Marlboro Cup	1978
Stuyvesant Handicap	1978
AWARDS
US Champion 2-year-old Colt	1976
US Triple Crown Champion	1977
US Champion 3-year-old Colt	1977
American Horse Of The Year	1977
US Champion Older Male Horse	1978
Leading Sire in North America	1984
North American leading Broodmare Sire	1995/1996

While Cruguet was equally effective on both American surfaces, he was without peer on the turf, and a year later he was on board Mac Diarmada, whose victories in the Washington DC International and the Canadian Turf Championship saw him voted Champion Turf horse. The journeyman announced his retirement at 41 in July 1980 to join his wife as a full-time trainer, but the lure of riding had him back in the saddle two years later. His last major Grade One Stakes victory came aboard Hodges Bay, again in the Canadian International at Woodbine. Today he lives in historic Midway just outside Lexington in the vicinity of one of the world’s great stallion stations, Winstar Farm, and the late Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum’s Gainsborough Stud. It’s no coincidence that the Woodford Bourbon Distillery is in the vicinity. For many years after his retirement, he made guest appearances for organisations such as Old Friends, a retirement and rescue facility for pensioned thoroughbreds. He almost completely disappeared from the public eye when he became the caregiver to his wife Denyse, when bedridden from a stroke in 2003, until she passed on in 2010 at age 80.

At 74 he remains active, working horses daily at the track, and he’s in excellent shape for a man who came off horses more often than he’d care to remember. He puts that down to a determination to make the number one box his home, and the fact that it often involves calculated risks which turned nasty. His pluck, his natural intuitions, his athleticism and dare we say, his upbringing, took him to the winner’s circle countless times, yet you know this is a man who remains comfortable in his own skin, “I crossed the line in front in more than 7000 races, but the truth is, I only won 500 them. Good horses did the rest”.

A couple of hours with Cruguet is riveting, and he speaks easily of the legends that forged the golden years of the game, Penna, Maurice Zilber, (for whom he rode the great Dahlia), Luro, Bill Mott, Woody Stevens and Charlie Whittingham. When you ask him to name the greatest horse of all time, and you toss in the names of Secretariat and Affirmed, he’s unhesitating: “There was none better than Slew. He could do a mile in 1 minute 31, and seven furlongs in 1 minute 20, and there’s no horse in history could go with that”.

If it’s at all possible, Cruguet offers that Slew’s legacy at stud may even have eclipsed his feats at the races. The dominant sire-line of the current era comes courtesy of his son A.P. Indy, and we owe it to Slew and his masterful rider, that we have A.P. Arrow at Summerhill today.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

2012 MELBOURNE PREMIER SALE CONCLUDES

Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale
(Photo : Herald Sun)

MELBOURNE PREMIER YEARLING SALE
27 February - 1 March 2012

Trade slowed predictably on the fourth and final day of the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale at Oaklands on Thursday, writes Darryl Sherer. Trainer Peter Moody purchased the day’s top two lots, both Super VOBIS and VOBIS Gold eligible colts and consigned by Makybe.

The most expensive of the pair was a $125,000 colt by Street Hero (Street Cry) out of Quiet Name (Lot 659), a daughter of Danehill (Danzig). A half-brother to three winners, including this season’s Brisbane juvenile winner Pure Whisper (Purrealist), the attractive August foal hails from a deep imported pedigree. His dam is a three-quarter sister to the French Listed winner No Dream (Anabaa), while his granddam Quiet Dream is by the Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew and a half-sister to the Grade One winner Dare And Go (Alydar) and Go Deputy (Deputy Minister).

“He’s a good looking colt, well prepared, just a nice horse,” Moody said.

His other purchase was $115,000 for Lot 688, a colt by Purrealist (Tale Of The Cat) from Smytzer’s Thunder (Thunder Gulch) and a half-brother to Melbourne winner Lucky Thunder (Lucky Owners), who was also placed in the Australian Guineas (Gr1, 1600m).

A further $2.9 million was generated from 102 lots sold yesterday, bringing the four day gross to $34.8million. The Premier II section of the catalogue averaged $28,451 with a median of $22,500.

“Things slowed up today but that is to be expected and the good lots have sold well, very well in my opinion,” Inglis’s Peter Heagney said at sale end. “As in sales around the world the trend continues with the good types selling very well and for those lots that do not meet market expectation then it is tough going. This sale has shown that the right type will sell for its market value and, in many cases this week, ahead of that. There are a lot of positives to take out of the week, there has been a big presence from South Africa and they have purchased some 20 lots and were underbidders on several more, including the top-priced horse in the sale. We have had buyers from Hong Kong, Singapore and a great representation from Victorian trainers and from interstate, West Australia in particular. We have been very pleased with so much positive feedback from vendors and buyers alike over the past four days and look forward to taking the momentum of the yearling sale through to tomorrow’s Select Racehorse Sale.”

Extract from ANZ Bloodstock News

A FIRST TAKE ON KENTUCKY

Lexington, Kentucky, USA
(Photo : Donamire Horse Farm)

“THE BLUEGRASS STATE”

Alec Hogg
MoneywebEver since Pride and Prejudice, I’ve tried to stop forming opinions from first impressions. But after nearly a week in The Bluegrass State, it’s pretty clear that I’m smitten. If we were ever to be forced to live outside our beloved KZN Midlands, it would be be here in the horse capital of the world.

Even without South Africa’s six time Champion Breeder Mick Goss as our host, the trip would have been marvelous. But being able to visit North America’s greatest horse farms in the reflected affection heaped on him by his peers has made this an adventure of a lifetime.

It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by a place where post and rail is standard. We saw tens of thousands of acres of rich Fescue pastures, the “bluegrass” that gives Kentucky its nickname, but not a strand of wire fencing. The buildings strike you as something out of an architectural digest - stallions are revered here, their barns styled like the farm stone and wooden homes and offices. Long avenues of leafy pin oaks, masterful horse art on the walls, statues of Seattle Slew, A.P. Indy, Secretariat… and stallion graveyards that beat any human version I’ve seen.

The place exudes old money. Certainly not the materialism you’d see from coarse, Wall Street  speculation. This is a world where the long-term rules, where everything spent is judged by a return on investment measured over decades, not months. Each door latch, every head collar, seems to have been selected on the basis of getting stuff that lasts, never mind that it costs more.

So, too, the stars of Kentucky. Although they’re virtually finished the breeding season, every stallion we saw – and there were dozens – was in prime condition. No falling away after covering 150 mares. Their grooms are knowledgeable, engaging and devoted. For them, caring for their charges is a prized career, not a stopgap.

What are the lessons to take home?

Perhaps it’s that the biggest thing holding back South African racing is a collective mindset that while not exactly encouraging it, certainly enables comfortable mediocrity.

The Kentucky experience shows the horse business, like any other, thrives on high standards. The benefit of intense competition and the virtuous circle of long-term investment delivering superior products is evident everywhere. Long may the Darley vs Coolmore contest continue. Similarly the practice by US billionaires redirecting cash from their construction or self-storage empires into blue bloods. Ditto continued success by from-the-ground horsemen like the Taylors whose experience, skill and sheer hard work provides its own edge.

South Africa has its Oppenheimers, Ruperts, Scotts, Rattrays and Joostes. It must also replace the departed Becks and Jaffees. And the sector would do well to attract more rich foreign investors like the Plattners and Jacobs’, further developing the goodwill of friends like American heavyweight Barry Irwin. This business needs far-sighted, deep-pocketed people who love the breed. Not just to inject their cash, but to sharpen the competitive instincts of self-made horsemen like Summerhill’s Goss and the prolific Koster family.

Another big learning is that lightning strikes in the most unlikely places. There are no absolutes in this game. Time and again we were shown top stallions who had started their careers as low priced coverers in relative backwaters. Some who were moderate on the track have been unbelievable in the shed. The South African tradition of gelding males as a matter of course must surely be re-looked. It’s the racehorses who make bloodlines, not the other way around.

The other lasting impression is how big an advantage South Africa enjoys through its well-regulated, drug-free regime. Everywhere in American breeding one hears grumbles about the lax medication standards. Horsemen bemoan the legal and hence liberal use of Lasix which ensures the passing on of inherited weaknesses like bleeding. It also masks potent pain-killing medication that overcomes physical defects which would severe restrict a horse’s career in jurisdiction like SA. This opaque influence means the US stallion business carries the kind of unnecessary risk that any logical investor would love to eliminate. 

Overall, I’ll be leaving Kentucky inspired and with renewed enthusiasm for this Sport of Kings. Confident that issues holding back the South African industry are not insurmountable. Indeed they are easily overcome in an atmosphere of trust, far-sightedness and collective will to do the right thing. We’ve given the world any number of great jockeys, Mike de Kock, Ipi Tombe, Jay Peg, Gypsy’s Warning and, indirectly, Pluck. But that should just be the start. How exciting to be part of an industry with such great potential.

Alec Hogg - Kentucky, USA

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME

Click above to watch Toby’s Corner winning the Wood Memorial (G1)
(Photo : ESPN - Footage : Aquaduct)

KENTUCKY DERBY (G1)
Churchill Downs, Dirt, 2000m
7 May 2011

Ever been to the Derby? (pronounced “Durby in America”, as in Durban). Well, I’ve been to the Derby, and before my English friends claim there’s only one Derby, and that’s the English version, let me explain. It’s true that what turfists call the true test of a three-year-old, had its origins more than three hundred years ago in England, every self-respecting racing nation in the world now has a Derby, and for Americans, there’s only one derby, and that’s the Kentucky version. But if you ask the Yanks which one was the “Derby”, the mature among them will instantly remember the great duel between Affirmed and Alydar in 1978, (the first of three, and the last time they had a Triple Crown hero,) I happened to be on scholarship in the United States at the time, and I was lucky to meet a racing nut who insisted I attend that epic as his guest.

Our good neighbour and mate, Alec Hogg, was genius enough a few months back to invite us to join him at the annual shareholders meeting of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway on the last weekend in April, and he then proposed we find our way to Kentucky, where the following weekend, under the Twin Spires of the famous Churchill Downs, the big race is renewed for the 100 and somethingth time.

A month ago it was looking like a bit of a dull, one horse affair, but the victory of Dialled In Saturday a week back in the Florida Derby (Gr.1) and the outcome of this weekend’s Wood Memorial (Gr.1) has suddenly put a different complexion on the event.

There are some disciples though, who until Saturday were of the view it could still be a single dimentional race, and they are the fans of last season’s champion juvenile, Uncle Mo (by Indian Charley, one of the last remaining bastions of the Grey Sovereign branch of Nasrullah). Writing in the Blood Horse recently, Evan Hammonds, the editor, spoke of the growing legend around Uncle Mo. His unbeaten two year old campaign and his decisive start to his classic year in the Timely Writer Stakes (Gr.1), continued to draw comparisons to that of the mighty Seattle Slew. Both Seattle Slew and Uncle Mo ran brief but brilliant two-year-old campaigns, each making three starts. In the pre-Breeders Cup era, “Slew’s” nine and a half length cakewalk in the Champagne Stakes (Gr.1) was enough for him to be named Champion Juvenile of 1976. Uncle Mo’s three afternoon appearances in 2010, had made it pretty clear he was head and shoulders above the competition, as matters stood.

Seattle Slew made his first outing at three in March 1977, going seven furlongs in a very brisk 1:21⅜; Uncle Mo finished his one turn mile in 1:35,56 with a fantastic 22:46 final quarter. Slew went on to win the Flamingo Stakes (Gr.1) and the Wood Memorial (Gr.1) before being sent off the one-two favourite in the Kentucky Derby. A decisive win in Saturday’s Wood Memorial (Gr.1), would have left Uncle Mo, like the “Slew,” unbeaten going into the Kentucky Derby, scheduled for the first Saturday in May (7^th). It was some scribes view that Uncle Mo has added more distance between himself and the rest of the pack, based on the results of the other preps thus far, and the fellows at The Blood Horse were rooting for him to join Slew’s exclusive club, as the only undefeated Derby winner in history.

That was all undone on Saturday, as Uncle Mo was unable to sustain his lead entering the stretch, and finished a rather tame and tired 3^rd behind Toby’s Corner, a son of the underrated Florida stallion, Bellamy Road, who was emulating his fathers runaway victory in the 2005 version of the race.

Between Toby’s Corner and Dialled In, the Kentucky Derby morning line betting has been thrown into disarray, though Uncle Mo’s trainer, Todd Fletcher, did proffer the excuse that his charge had grabbed a quarter crack in his hoof, which might’ve compromised him.

Before we close, let’s get back to Dialled In, grandson of A.P. Indy, the most prolific sire of classic winners in modern America, whose retirement from stud duties was ironically announced the same day. His Hall Of Fame trainer, Nick Zito, has visited the winner’s podium at the Kentucky Derby on two previous occasions, and he knows what it takes. He also knows the antidote for the virus known as “Derby Fever”, which seems to get to the nerves of so many of his colleagues going into the big race. When Dialled In came home in Florida, Zito announced “he’s got a rocket engine, and he blasts off. He’s amazing. These horses don’t come around like this. He’s such a gift. I’ve had a lot of horses, but with this horse there’s something about him, the horse’s courage, the way he is. More importantly, you’re not supposed to do what he’s done in his young career”. It seems we might have a race on our hands after all.

A.P. INDY RETIRED

A.P. Indy
(Image : Lane’s End)

A.P. INDY (USA)
Seattle Slew (USA) - Weekend Surprise (USA)

Lane’s End stallion A.P. Indy (Seattle Slew - Weekend Surprise, by Secretariat) has been pensioned due to fertility issues. “He was bred to 25 mares, and none has come back in foal,” confirmed Lane’s End’s Will Farish.

“He’s been tailing off a little bit the last two years, but nothing like this. This was definitely not expected.” Farish added that every effort had been made to address the problem. “We have had all kinds of veterinarians in to check his semen,” he said.

“He only has one testicle, and it has just deteriorated to the point where he isn’t producing live sperm.” Farish continued, “This is a very sad time for the farm. He’s just been such a wonderful horse for us - a wonderful yearling, a wonderful racehorse and a wonderful sire.”

Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old in 1992, the 22-year-old stallion was the nation’s leading sire in 2003 and 2006. His nine champions include Classic winners Bernardini and Rags To Riches.

“A.P. Indy will remain in the stall he has occupied for almost 20 years,” Farish said. “I feel blessed to have been the co-breeder, along with my friend Bill Kilroy, of this great horse, who was a champion on the track and is proving to be one of the most influential sires of our time. It is our fondest wish that he will live a long and happy retirement.”

Bred in partnership by William S. Farish and William S. Kilroy, A.P. Indy was a handsome youngster, and the emergence of his half-brother Summer Squall (Storm Bird) as the 1990 G1 Preakness Stakes hero enhanced his pedigree by the time he was offered at Keeneland July two months  later. The bay duly topped that boutique venue when selling to BBA Ireland for $2.9 million on behalf of Tomonori Tsurumaki, and joined a rare group of multi-million-dollar yearlings to earn back their purchase price on the racetrack.

Turned over to Neil Drysdale, A.P. Indy finished fourth as the favorite in his debut at Del Mar, then underwent surgery for an undescended testicle. He returned to rattle off three straight wins in 1991, capped by the G1 Hollywood Futurity, and picked up where he left off in 1992 with wins in the G2 San Rafael Stakes and G1 Santa Anita Derby. That winning streak would have ensured him favoritism for the G1 Kentucky Derby, but a quarter crack kept him in his stall during the Run for the Roses.

Drysdale regrouped and sent the colt to New York, where he captured the G2 Peter Pan Stakes and G1 Belmont Stakes. A.P. Indy made his next appearance in Woodbine’s Molson Million in September, but ran fifth at 3-5.

After a terrible start in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup the following month, he put in a strong late bid to claim third behind eventual champion older horse Pleasant Tap (Pleasant Colony) and 1991 G1 Kentucky Derby hero Strike The Gold (Alydar). Three weeks later, he put matters to right in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, rallying under regular rider Eddie Delahoussaye to seal Eclipse honors as Horse of  the Year and champion 3-year-old.

His career mark stood at 11-8-0-1 with earnings of $2,979,815.

In Demand at Stud…

A.P. Indy headed to Lane’s End breeding shed as a mouth-watering stallion prospect, and delivered the goods. His first yearlings averaged $298,750 in 1995 (topped by the $700,000 Cromwell) and, from 45 named foals, he was represented by four black-type winners in 1996, headed by GSW Accelerator. Pulpit emerged as the favorite for the 1997 Kentucky Derby following wins in the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes and G2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, but sustained a knee chip when fourth on the first Saturday in May.

A.P. Indy had a trio of fillies - Royal Indy, Runup The Colors and Tomisue’s Delight - win at the top level later in 1997, and those results kept breeders clamoring for his services.

The ill-fated Tempera became his first Eclipse Award winner when she secured the 2001 G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and another 1999 crop member, Mineshaft, followed with a Horse of the Year campaign in 2003.

Bernardini gave the stallion his first U.S. Classic win with his success in the 2006 G1 Preakness Stakes, and went on to earn honors as the year’s champion 3-year-old with additional wins in the G1 Travers Stakes and G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Rags To Riches came along in 2007 with an epic win over eventual Horse of the Year Curlin (Smart Strike) in the G1 Belmont Stakes, and claimed the Eclipse Award as the nation’s top 3-year-old filly.

A.P. Indy led the general sire list in 2003 and 2006, and has been represented by 132 black-type winners (12% of foals) to date. His progeny have earned over $112,901,838 since hitting the track in 1996.

According to equineline.com, a total of 355 A.P. Indy yearlings have sold at public auction in the U.S. for a total of $191,223,182. Their average price was $538,657, and the median is $375,000. A.P. Indy’s highest-priced yearling to date came last year, when a colt out of Balance (Thunder Gulch) sold for $4.2 million to Besilu Stables.

The Next Generation…

A.P. Indy’s daughters have produced a total of 51 black-type winners to date. That group is headed by five Grade 1 winners thus far, including 2006 champion 3-year-old filly Wait A While and 2010 G1 Kentucky Derby hero Super Saver - both by Maria’s Mon. His sons, in particular, have been the headline grabbers.

Pulpit has established himself as a desirable stallion at Claiborne with top-level winners Corinthian, Ice Box, Pyro, Rutherienne and Tapit, and the latter has emerged as one of the country’s most promising young stallions. Malibu Moon has transferred his early success in Maryland to being in serious demand at Spendthrift in Kentucky, and Mineshaft, after a cautious start, has come alive with last year’s G1 King’s Bishop Stakes hero Discreetly Mine - now alongside his sire and grandsire at Lane’s End - and recent G1 Florida Derby victor Dialed In.

The 2010 freshman sire race came down to a pair of A.P. Indy sons, with Florida-based Congrats edging Darley’s Bernardini by earnings. Both stallions sired two Grade 1 winners last year.

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News