The Breeders Cup, the World Championships of thoroughbred horse racing, returns to Keeneland this Fall, and although the legendary AP Indy died peacefully at Lane’s End six years ago, his presence will nonetheless be felt everywhere.
“I can't go and tell you right now who's going to be in the Breeders Cup and who descends from him, but I will bet you that about half of the winners do descend from him, when it's when it's all said and done.”
Lenny Shulman, author, screen writer, and editor of The Blood Horse for 20 years has literally written the book on AP Indy, describing him as “one of the most influential thoroughbreds the sport has even known”.
“Definitely. I mean, just looking outside, we have the statue of AP Indy, and he kind of built the farm in a way.”
That’s Will Farish whose grandfather and namesake founded Lane’s End in 1979, and bred AP Indy ten years later.
“Everything kind of reverts back to AP Indy. So many of the mares, stallions we have now, AP Indy really, really put the farm on the map.”
Shulman will be discussing and signing his book, “AP Indy: Champion Racehorse and Breed Shaping Sire” Wednesday evening at the Keeneland Library.
“AP Indy is unique because the breeding industry at that time was geared very much towards speed. You know, it was who can run 3 quarters of a mile the fastest. So what AP Indy did was he put stamina back into the breed; almost all of AP Indy’s stakes winners won their races around 2 turns. So he shaped the breed by infusing stamina back into it. So there's not a lot of stallions who do that, who actually changed the breed so obviously as he did.”
Shulman fell in love with AP while living in California, watching him race on the West Coast, then following his sporting hero to Woodford County where he now lives, when AP Indy retired to stud. He’ll admit he can still get emotional when he visits Lane’s End.
“There's a reason why there's a life-size statue of that horse there, and there's a reason why he's the only horse that is not in the cemetery and has his separate burial place at the base of that statue. I mean, he is treated in the manner that he deserves to be. They commissioned that statue while he was still living. That's not something that happened after he passed away. That statue was out there and from his stall window, he used to look out the window and see his own stature out there. So that's pretty good when you're still around and they're building statues. That says you're held in pretty high esteem.”
Apart from the obvious, what made AP Indy quite so exceptional?
“I think if you would say what one trait, if you could pick one trait, it was his intelligence. He was such a smart horse and everybody, whoever had a hand on him tells you that same thing.”
A son of Seattle Slew and a grandson of Secretariat, AP Indy brought a record breaking $2.9 million dollars at the yearling sales in 1990, went on to win The Belmont and the Breeders Cup, and returned to Lane’s End as Horse of the Year to stand at stud, and this is when his path crossed with Asa Haley.
“Well, when I first got AP, I was kind of scared of him, you know, a little bit because, you know, of the name, you know, AP Indy. Then once I got to grooming, like the first two weeks, we just clicked, and we got to be real good friends, and I just treat him like a big dog. You know, that's just the way he was, like a big dog to me. I could, if he was in his paddock right now, I could whistle for him, he'd just come running. There’s been several times that people be out here just, you know, trying to get him come to the gate or something like that, and I just step by here and whistle, and he'd just come running like a big dog.”
Asa takes care of three stallions daily, including one of AP Indy’s sons, “I have Mineshaft, Carl Spackler, and Senor Buscador, a son of Mineshaft.”
At 27 years old Mineshaft is pensioned from breeding but absolutely living his best life in retirement at Lane’s End.
“Oh, he still likes to holler for the mares! You know, he's pretty close to some yearlings over there and he hollers at them every day, but during the breeding season you’ll hear him you know, every once in a while up here at the top of the hill hollering while we're breeding. And he had he has a distinct sound to him. When he was breeding, when he come out of the barn, he would holler all the way to the breeding shed. And when he get finished mounting his mares, you know, he lets out this big ‘Braaaawwwhh’, he just, you know, and he backs off and goes to the corner, get washed off, come to top the hill. But when it was his turn, he knew it was his turn and he would holler all the way to the shed.”
Asa has worked with the stallions at Lane’s End for close to three decades.
“I'm guessing I know the answer to this, but do you have a favorite over all the years?
I would have to go back to AP. AP, Mineshaft, Dixieland Band.”
The horses at Lane’s End are treated like royalty, and in fact the late Queen Elizabeth II, a renowned and knowledgeable racing fan, visited the farm on four separate occasions. Will Farish,
“The last time that she came, I was probably, I was like 10 or 11 years old, and I remember it was, it was quite a big deal. Me and my siblings were all lined up outside my grandparents' house to get to meet her and say hello before she went in to have tea with my grandparents. And it was very, very surreal. She stayed at my grandparents' house on the farm. [So they trotted you out like the Von Trapp family?] Exactly, looking back at it now, it was exactly like that! And all my sisters had to learn to curtsy and and all those formalities!”
In 2010 another queen arrived at Lane’s End, the inimitable Zenyatta,
“It's surreal. It really is. I was young, but I was old enough to remember when she came in and it was very different from any other horse coming to the farm. Obviously the media presence. And
I mean, people to this day send her cards every year, send her birthday cakes. She is a very unique, unique mare in the sport. She really is.”
Will Farish works in the bloodstock division at Lane’s End. Will’s father Bill Farish took over from his own father Will Farish as farm manager.
“I would say it adds a little extra pressure, but it's what I want to do and it's what I love. It definitely doesn't make you work less hard! You know, this was, like I said, the passion of my grandfather's life and the passion of my dad's life. So, you know, you want to try like heck to see it continue its success that they've stewarded.”
Flightline, the highest rated dirt horse in history, unbeaten in six starts and a great grandson of AP Indy stands at Lane’s End and likewise shoulders a ton of expectation,
“Flightline is just having his 1st runners, obviously, on the track this year, but we have very high hopes that he is definitely the next number one sire for us. He's given us every indication that he's going to be able to do that. It's been a pretty unbelievable start he's had. But he's definitely the next next man up.”
And following in his hoofprints, this year’s Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo will stand at Lane’s End once his racing career is over, to be joined by Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo, effectively giving Lane’s End the 2026 Triple Crown of sires.
Even so, impeccable breeding, the very best upbringing, meticulous training and the perfect ride every time are still no guarantee of a win, no matter how much you’d like to write that fairy tale ending,
“And then after you've done all of that, you need a gob of good luck. And everybody who's in this business will tell you the same thing.
No matter how big your ego is, and no matter how much you think you're a genius, almost everybody will tell you and you have to be lucky at the end of all of their theories and all that, and you have to get lucky. And that is a huge part of it.”
