A. P. Indy's influence dominates the pedigrees of Ladies' Classic runners

Malibu Moon's Ask the Moon winning the Ruffian at Saratoga
Photo: Adam Coglianese, NYRA

Look no further than the entries for the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic for evidence of the extent to which Intermediate/Classic Chef-de-Race A. P. Indy has shaped the top echelons of American racing.  He appears in the second or third generations of no less than seven of the nine fillies and mares who will enter the starting gate of the mile-and-an-eighth world championship contest to be run at Churchill Downs on Friday, November 4th.

A. P. Indy's top son, Pulpit, is the sire of Pachattack (out of El Laoob, by Red Ransom), who captured the Grade III Arlington Matron in May and finished just a half-length behind Aruna in last month's Grade I Spinster at nine furlongs over Keeneland's synthetic surface.

Pulpit is also the grandsire of five-year-old Satans Quick Chick (by Sky Mesa, out of Dancing Devlette, by Devil's Bag), whose sole victory in graded stakes company came in the Grade II Raven Run at Keeneland two years ago.  Though she was third (by 14 lengths) in the Grade I Beldame last out, Satans Quick Chick 's ability to win at a mile and an eighth in this company remains in question.

The reigning Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks winner It's Tricky (out of Catboat, by Tale of the Cat) is by A. P. Indy's Champion son, Mineshaft, and is his leading money-winning daughter to-date.  Interestingly, though, she merits only a C+ rating from TrueNicks, based on the success of the cross between Mineshaft and Storm Cat and his sons, even though it also produced Grade I winner Dialed In (out of Miss Doolittle, by Storm Cat).

Six-year-old Santa Margarita-G1 winner Miss Match (Arg), a daughter of A. P. Indy's son, Indygo Shiner (out of Miss Simpatia, by Southern Halo), captured the Argentine Oaks-G1 in her native country, and most recently was a creditable fourth in Game On Dude's Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita.  Indygo Shiner's dam, Navarra (by El Gran Senor) is a graded stakes-winning full sister to the great mare Toussaud, dam of Grade I winners Empire Maker, Chester House, and Honest Lady.

Six-year-old Ask the Moon (out of Always Asking, by Valid Appeal), a former claimer who ascended into greatness in the hands of trainer Marty Wolfson to capture this year's runnings of Saratoga's Grade I Ruffian and Personal Ensign, is by A. P. Indy's son, Malibu Moon, who has become best known for his exceptional fillies and mares.  His millionaire daughter, Life At Ten, achieved notoriety during last year's Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic when she failed to extend herself due to physical ailments that are still not fully understood.

Royal Delta works at Churchill Downs on October 30th
Photo:  Reed Palmer Photography/Churchill Downs

Two of the highly regarded Ladies' Classic contenders, the three-year-olds Royal Delta (by Empire Maker) and Plum Pretty (by Medaglia d'Oro), are out of A. P. Indy mares.  With earnings of $1,296,700, Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty is A. P. Indy's current leading money winner in his role as a broodmare sire.

Alabama winner Royal Delta boasts an A++ TrueNicks rating, based on the fact that Empire Maker has sired two other graded stakes winners (Soaring Empire and Charity Belle) out of A. P. Indy mares, though Royal Delta herself is by far the most accomplished offspring of this cross.

Look to Plum Pretty's Female Family for Clues to her Kentucky Oaks Win

Plum Pretty holds off St. John's River to win the Kentucky Oaks
Photo: Reed Palmer Photography/Churchill Downs

A daughter of Medaglia D'Oro captured the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs for the second time in three years earlier today, as Peachtree Stable's Plum Pretty eked out a front-running victory in the prestigious mile and an eighth filly classic, which is often a stepping stone to divisional honors.

In 2009, Medaglia D'Oro's eventual Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra had announced herself as something truly special when she trounced the Oaks field by more than 20 lengths, without ever being asked to really run.

It's too soon to tell whether Plum Pretty will follow in Rachel Alexandra's footsteps, but the Bob Baffert trainee has accomplished enough during the last two months to write her own name in the history books.  She came to the Oaks off a freakish 25-length tour-de-force performance in the mile and a sixteenth Sunland Park Oaks in late March, one which the betting public at Churchill mostly dismissed because Sunland Park isn't considered to be quite in the same league as the historic Louisville track.

Until today, the bay filly's bona fides weren't taken very seriously, in spite of her respectable third-place finishes in two graded stakes at Santa Anita:  the Grade II Santa Ynez, and the Grade I Las Virgenes, in which she lost to top three-year-old females Zazu and Turbulent Descent.  Zazu could do no better than third today, behind a furiously closing St. John's River, who, though still eligible for a "non-winners of two" condition race, almost caught Plum Pretty at the wire.

Plum Pretty has never been out of the money in her five career starts, and with her win in the Oaks, her earnings have soared to $761,200.  And her pedigree supplies ample evidence that she's no fluke.  Plum Pretty is just the latest in a string of top-notch fillies sired by El Prado (Ire)'s son, Medaglia D'Oro, whose daughters include Acorn-G1 winners Champagne D'Oro and Gabby's Golden Gal.  She is bred along the same cross (Medaglia D'Oro-Seattle Slew) as Al Khali (Capote), a multiple graded stakes-winning turf specialist who has earned over $500,000.

Plum Pretty is the fifth foal out of the unplaced A. P. Indy mare, Liszy, who was sold for $170,000 at the 2008 Keeneland January sale, carrying the future Oaks winner.  Liszy had previously produced fillies by More Than Ready in 2006 and 2007.

Initially offered at the 2009 Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, Plum Pretty attracted a bid of $100,000, but failed to meet her reserve.  She was eventually purchased for $130,000 by her current owner, John Fort, at last year's OBS March Two-Year-Olds-in-Training sale, and when she arrived at Bob Baffert's barn, the Hall of Fame trainer confessed that his first impulse was to nickname her, "Plum Ugly."  But no more.

Plum Pretty's second dam is the stakes-winning Private Account mare, Silent Account, who won the Alcibiades-G2 at Keeneland and produced the stakes winner and sire Gold Case.  She descends from the two-time Champion Filly, Alcibiades, who captured the Kentucky Oaks in 1930, and went on to exert her considerable influence in the breeding shed, too, producing Champion Two-Year-Old Menow (sire of Tom Fool).  This is also the family of Horse of the Year and Chef-de-Race Sir Ivor.

Interestingly, Plum Pretty was produced by what is often called the "Rasmussen Factor," a pattern of inbreeding to superior female families through different individuals.  Her distant crosses of Alcibiades come not only through her own female lineage, but through her grandsire, El Prado (Ire), who is out of Lady Capulet, by Sir Ivor, and whose second dam, Cap and Bells, is by Tom Fool.