Weekend Surprise, a graded stakes winning daughter of Secretariat, was the dam of the Preakness winner Summer Squall, sired by Storm Bird, and the stakes placed Danzig colt Honor Grades, so it really wasn't a surprise when her bay colt by the great Seattle Slew sold for nearly three million dollars at Keeneland in July of 1990.

The 2.9 million dollar price tag was the highest paid for a yearling in 1990. The second highest priced yearling that season, a Fappiano colt, also sold at Keeneland in July, and went for two million. The lucky buyer in both cases was Tomonori Tsurumaki of Japan.

While the Fappiano colt was named A.P. Jet and sent to Japan, the Seattle Slew colt was dubbed A.P. Indy and put under the management of west coast based trainer Neil Drysdale, who had trained Weekend Surprise.

A.P. Indy made his freshman debut at Del Mar on August 24, 1991 under jockey Eddie Delahoussaye. The two suffered traffic problems, and while the colt was gaining ground in the stretch, he ran out of track before reaching the wire and finished fourth.

Next time out, A.P. Indy coasted home on a sloppy track during Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet to win by four lengths, and a month later he wired the field in a one mile allowance race at Bay Meadows. Drysdale said his charge had gained a lot of confidence with that victory. It was time to move into stakes company.

Drysdale sent him out in the Grade I Hollywood Futurity on December 22. The field of fourteen, a record for the race, included the D. Wayne Lukas trained Dance Floor, winner of the grade III Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes and the grade II Breeders' Futurity, as well as Star of the Crop, who had won the Hollywood Prevue Breeders Cup Stakes, the Gone West colt Real West, and the classy longshot Casual Lies, who had won the Foster City Mile.

Unbothered by a wide trip, A.P. Indy ran like a professional, coming from ninth to collar Dance Floor in the stretch and win by a neck. Casual Lies, at 52-1, was third. Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye hadn't worried about the wide trip and never even reached for his whip:

"He's a big, longstriding colt. I figured losing a bit of ground would be better than having to stop and start again...I knew I had him [Dance Floor] so there was no point hitting my horse."

Arazi, brilliant winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, was voted champion two year old colt, an honor he also received overseas. A.P. Indy was pointed for the Santa Anita Derby.

After turning in a solid performance to win the San Rafael at Santa Anita, A.P. Indy met the top class colt Bertrando, who as a two year old had won the Norfolk Stakes and the Del Mar Futurity before running second in Arazi's Breeders' Cup Juvenile. A.P. Indy won the Santa Anita Derby by a length and three quarters, while Casual Lies got within a neck of Bertrando for third.

A.P. Indy was shipped to Churchill Downs as a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby. Sadly, he was scratched on Derby morning due to a quarter crack. Casual Lies, whom he had beaten on several occassions, finished second to Jim Beam winner Lil E. Tee.

The colt skipped the Preakness as well, instead romping to a five and a half length victory in the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont. He then went to post in the Belmont Stakes, otherwise known as the Test of Champions.

A.P. Indy became the second son of Seattle Slew to wear the white carnations, winning the classic race by a length and three quarters over the British challenger My Memoirs and Preakness Stakes winner Pine Bluff. His time for the mile and a half was 2:26. The time was equal to that of Easy Goer, and only Secretariat had gone faster.

When A.P. Indy returned to the races that fall, he ran out of the money in the Molson Million at Woodbine before meeting a top class field for the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

After a poor start, he closed to finish third behind the champion older horse Pleasant Tap and 1991 Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold.

In the final race of his career, A.P. Indy scored a decisive victory in the Breeders Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park, beating Pleasant Tap by two lengths and avenging his Gold Cup defeat. The win earned him Horse of the Year honors, and many praised him as the finest horse sired by Seattle Slew. Considering the accomplishments of Swale, Slew o' Gold, Landaluce, Surfside, Capote, and Digression, this is no small praise.

Breeders William S. Farish III and W.S. Kilroy repurchased shares in the champion and multimillionare, and he was retired to Lane's End in Kentucky.

A.P. Indy has sired the champion juvenile filly Tempera, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies; 2000 Kentucky Derby runner up Aptitude; multimillionaire Golden Missile, whose wins include the Pimlico Special and the Widener Handicap; Coaching Club American Oaks winner Jilbab, and millionaire Stephen Got Even.

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