A.P. Indy's influence still strong

In March of 1989, the colt who would be known as A.P. Indy was born. The son of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew lived up to his regal breeding and $2.9 million yearling price tag by winning four Grade 1 events, including the 1992 Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic to earn Horse of the Year honors. He then retired to Lane’s End Farm to begin the real work on his legacy.

Three decades after his birth, A.P. Indy, who continues to reside at Lane’s End as a beloved pensioner, is regarded as a breed-shaping sire and a prominent source of stamina. The stallion has built an empire that will be well in evidence on this year’s Belmont Stakes card. A.P. Indy’s grandson Tapit, already the sire of three Belmont winners, will be represented in this year’s renewal by Bourbon War, Intrepid Heart, and Tacitus.

A son of A.P. Indy, Take Charge Indy, is the sire of Preakness Stakes runner-up and Belmont probable Everfast. Meanwhile, A.P. Indy’s classic-winning champion son Bernardini appears to be following in his sire’s footsteps as a sire of sires and broodmare sire, and will be represented in both those regards on the Belmont undercard.

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Bernardini, who raced as a homebred for Darley, won six straight races, including Grade 1 triumphs in the Preakness Stakes, Travers Stakes, and Jockey Club Gold Cup, to earn Eclipse Award divisional honors in 2006. An eagerly anticipated stallion prospect, his first crop included Stay Thirsty, who finished second in the 2011 Belmont Stakes and went on to win the Travers Stakes and Cigar Mile before retiring to stud in Kentucky. Now standing in California, Stay Thirsty is in the midst of a breakthrough run as a stallion. He will be represented on the Belmont undercard by Coal Front, coming off a win in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile, in a salty edition of the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, and by Mind Control, seeking his second Grade 1 win in the Woody Stephens Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters.

Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress, who is expected to be favored in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes on Belmont day, is out of the unraced Bernardini mare Havisham, giving the stallion another rooting interest on the card. At a relatively early point in his career as a broodmare sire – his oldest daughters are just 11 – Bernardini also appears to be surging in that regard. He is already the broodmare sire of 20 graded or group stakes winners, also including multiple Grade 1 winner Catholic Boy, Grade 3 winner and Preakness third-place finisher Owendale, Singapore’s Horse of the Year Qatar Man, Mexican Horse of the Year Kukulkan, and this year’s Australian Derby winner Angel of Truth.

A.P. Indy’s other prominent sons at stud in Kentucky include the consistent Congrats and Flatter, classic sire Malibu Moon, and Horse of the Year Mineshaft. He has two sons in this year’s competitive freshman sire class in champion Honor Code, who is at Lane’s End, and classic-placed Commissioner.

In addition to the 19 sons of Bernardini advertised at stud worldwide, A.P. Indy’s grandsons at stud include multiple Grade 1 winner Lord Nelson (Pulpit), Kentucky Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon), and the consistent Sky Mesa (Pulpit). Meanwhile, A.P. Indy’s grandson Tapit (Pulpit) is busy building his own branch of the empire, with young sons at stud including Tapizar, sire of last year’s champion filly Monomoy Girl. Tapit is also the sire of freshman sires Constitution and Tonalist, with young stallions Cupid, Frosted, and Tapwrit waiting in the wings behind them.