BackTrack: A.P. Indy Kick-Starts Year in San Rafael

Tomonori Tsurumaki's A.P. Indy, the third-highest weighted male on last year's Experimental Free Handicap, took his first steps on the Triple Crown trail in the San Rafael Stakes (G2) on Feb. 29. Bet down to 1-2 favoritism by the crowd of 23,164, A.P. Indy felt Delahoussaye's whip 11 times in the stretch before prevailing by three-quarters of a length over Treekster, at 21-1 the longhsot of the field of six.

"I didn't know if he was going to catch him (Treekster)," Delahoussaye said. "He doesn't have a big turn of foot ... he kind of runs steady. It wasn't until the last sixteenth of a mile that he really dug in. He's still green.

"I used him up the last eighth of a mile. I was getting after him. Neil (trainer Neil Drysdale) didn't say anything about saving him."

A.P. Indy, a half brother to Summer Squall whose $2.9 million price tag topped all 1990 yearlings, made the San Rafael his fourth consecutive winning race. The Seattle Slew colt closed out last year with a neck victory in the Hollywood Futurity (G1) over Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner Dance Floor.

Tsurumaki and Noel O'Callaghan of the British Bloodstock Agency (Ireland), who bought A.P. Indy, flew from London to give them both their first look at A.P. Indy in action. The colt is named for Auto Polis, a leisure center Tsurumaki recently opened in Japan.

A.P. Indy, which had an undescended testicle removed after finishing fourth in his debut at Del Mar last August, raced third behind Treekster's :22 3/5, :46, and 1:10 fractions before winning in time of 1:35 2/5. The time was one second slower than Prince Spellbound's 1982 stakes record, but the winner and runner-up were nine lengths clear of third-place finisher Prince Wild.

With a two-length lead at the eighth pole, Treekster looked a good bet under Pat Valenzuela despite having only won once in three prior races.

"He didn't get much out of his last race and Vladimir (trainer Vladimir Cerin) said he missed some training time on him (because of recent rains)," Valenzuela said. "He had a right to get tired."

O'Callaghan also bought the second highest-priced colt at Keeneland in 1990 for Tsurumaki, paying $2 million for a full brother to Tappiano (by Fappiano) subsequently named A. P Jet.

"They're an interesting story," O'Callaghan said of the colts. "Neil had them both for about a month. He decided to keep A.P. Indy, and the other went to Japan. A. P Jet has won three times there, including a grade 3 race."

Drysdale plans to run $447,555-earner A.P. Indy in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 4, with the San Felipe Stakes (G2) a possibility. The last two San Rafael winners, Dinard and Mister Frisky, went on to win the Santa Anita Derby.