A. P. Indian brings five-race win streak into Phoenix

A year ago, the buzz surrounding the now Grade 2 Stoll Keenon Ogden was the return to Keeneland of 2014 champion sprinter Work All Week and the new kid on the block in Runhappy. Also in the field of 11 was Green Lantern Stable’s homebred A.P. Indian who finished sixth as a 16-1 shot in the sloppy conditions.

That was then and this is now. The “now” horse for Friday’s Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix is A.P. Indian.

With a spot in the $1.5 million TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita on Nov. 5 already secured by virtue of his victory in the Forego (G1), A.P. Indian brings a five-race win streak into this year’s running of the $250,000 stakes at six furlongs on the main track.

“He is sounder this year,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said of the difference from 2015 to 2016. “He had a few setbacks last year and we could not train him properly.”

The Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix was the final start of 2015 for A.P. Indian, who has not lost since.

“He was not 100 percent here last year,” Delacour said. “He had beaten horses that Runhappy had beaten and with the weather, it was not a true indication of his ability.”

A.P. Indian was entered in last Saturday’s Vosburgh (G1) at Belmont Park but never made the trip from his home base at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.

“We made the call the night before,” Delacour said of skipping the race, which was run over a sealed, muddy track. “I did not think the track would dry out and it didn’t.”

A.P. Indian arrived at Keeneland Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning he galloped on the main track shortly after 7 o’clock.

His stay at Keeneland will be brief as Delacour plans to take A.P. Indian back to Fair Hill before shipping to Santa Anita.

Source: Keeneland Association