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Pedigree Analysis: Dreaming of A.P. Indy

by John P. Sparkman
In just about every way possible, A.P. Indy has been the ideal Thoroughbred of the international era of American racing and breeding.

Juvenile Behavior: Sky America Rallies

With an impressive run through the stretch, Sky America ended trainer Wesley Ward's hammerlock on the Keeneland juvenile races this spring.

Rosario to Ride Dynamic Sky in Tampa Derby

Trainer Mark Casse is looking for a big effort against the undefeated Verrazano.

Falling Sky, Sky Captain Scratch from FOY

Falling Sky, winner of the Feb. 2 Sam F. Davis Stakes (gr. III) at Tampa Bay Downs, was scratched from the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (gr. II) the morning of the race, as was maiden winner Sky Captain.

Dynamic Sky Impressive in Pasco Win

Dynamic Sky recovered from a tough trip to win the $100,000 Pasco Stakes over stablemate Sky Commander Jan. 12 at Tampa Bay Downs, giving owner John Oxley and trainer Mark Casse consecutive scores in the race.

Three Chimneys Announces Stallion Fees

Flower Alley, sire of 2012 Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner I'll Have Another, will see his fee increase to $20,000 (stands and nurses) in 2013 at Robert N. Clay's Three Chimneys Farm.

Don't Count Out Dynamic Sky in BC Juvenile

Mark Casse got Dynamic Sky for less than he expected and the colt has accomplished more than the trainer ever thought he would during his 2-year-old racing season.

Boisterous Seeks Return to Winning Ways

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey looks to return grade III victor Boisterous to winning form in the $150,000 Knickerbocker Stakes (gr. IIIT) Oct. 13 at Belmont Park.

Book Three Ends with Solid Trade at Keeneland

Heavy action by lookers at the barns is followed by brisk bidding in the ring during Day Six of the Keeneland September yearling sale. All key indices are up over last year's figures.

Casse Has Trio for Oxley in Ontario Colleen

Leading Woodbine trainer Mark Casse carries a solid hand in the $150,000 Ontario Colleen Stakes (Can-IIIT) with three entrants for owner John C. Oxley in the one-mile turf event for 3-year-old fillies Aug. 25.

Spirited Miss Gets Blacktype in Duchess

John Oxley's Spirited Miss rallied from off the pace to take the Duchess Stakes at Woodbine July 28, earning her first stakes score.

Grade I Winner Ice Box to Three Chimneys

Grade I winner Ice Box, who was runner-up in the 2010 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), will relocate to Robert N. Clay's Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky., for the 2013 breeding season.

Sky Mesa Filly Tops Barretts May Sale Workers

A Sky Mesa filly sped an eighth-mile in :09 4/5, the quickest of the day at the May 11 under-tack preview for the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds.

New Duties Await Veteran Trainer John Ward

After 40 years as a trainer, John Ward is in the final days of overseeing his stable of horses at Gulfstream Park as he prepares to assume his new duties as executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission April 1.

Thiskyhasnolimit All In for Texas Mile Win

Favored Thiskyhasnolimit prevailed in a terrific stretch duel with Gladding to win the $200,000 Texas Mile (gr. III) by a half-length at Lone Star Park April 23 for his first graded stakes triumph since 2009.

Slideshow: A.P. Indy

Celebrate the legacy of A.P. Indy.

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Gio Ponti Leads Turf Classic Nominees

Two-time Champion Gio Ponti tops the list of early nominees to the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic. He could face last year's winner General Quarters in the grade I race May 7.

Arch Traveler Wins Key Gulfstream Allowance

Favored Arch Traveler won a key Gulfstream Park allowance race for 3-year-olds on the Fountain of Youth (gr. II) undercard Feb. 26, defeating second choice Nacho Business by three-quarters of a length.

Top Seasons Spice Up FTK Winter Mixed Sale

Seeking to add a little bit spice to their Kentucky winter mixed sale, Fasig-Tipton officials decided to devote a portion of the Feb. 7 auction in Lexington to no guarantee seasons to prominent stallions.

Final Mesa Makes Trip Worthwhile for Rosario

Final Mesa left her rivals behind in the stretch to register her first graded stakes score for Wesley Ward in the $100,000 Old Hat (gr. III) on opening day of the 2011 Gulfstream Park meet Jan. 5.

Dynaformer Stays at $150,000

Dynaformer, this year's leading turf sire by progeny earnings, will stand in 2011 for $150,000 at Robert N. Clay's Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky.

Thiskyhasnolimit captures Smarty Jones Stakes

Jamie Theriot scores Labor Day double with Thiskyhasnolimit in the Smarty Jones Stakes and Chamberlain Bridge in the Monster Turf Handicap.

Wonderlandbynight Captures Ontario Debutante

Wonderlandbynight swept to the lead at the top of the stretch and left favored Mimi's Missy behind to register victory in her graded stakes debut in the $146,910 Ontario Debutante Stakes at Woodbine Aug. 14.

Final Mesa Headlines Sorrento

Wesley Ward's unbeaten filly figures to be the choice in the 6 1/2-furlong Sorrento Stakes (gr. III) at Del Mar; faces challenge from a pair of Bob Baffert-trained juveniles

Final Mesa Romps Again Over Juvenile Fillies

Undefeated Final Mesa made it three wins at three different tracks when she ran away from her four rivals to capture the $149,139 My Dear Stakes as the 3-10 choice at Woodbine June 26.

Valiant General Quarters Takes Turf Classic

General Quarters got headed down the lane but came back to win the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (gr. IT) at Churchill Downs May 1.

Sky Mesa Filly Works Fastest Quarter

Four fillies are the quickest at an eighth of a mile during the under tack show for the Fasig-Tipton Florida select juvenile auction.

Dynaformer's Fee Stays at $150,000

Dynaformer, who stands at Robert N. Clay's Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky., will stand in 2010 for $150,000.

Iroquois Opens Up for Thiskyhasnolimit

Overlooked Thiskyhasnolimit drove four wide through the homestretch under Shaun Bridgmohan to register his first stakes win by one length in the $120,800 Iroquois (gr. III) for 2-year-olds at Churchill Downs Nov. 1.

Satans Quick Chick (23-1) Lights Up Raven Run

Satans Quick Chick slid through the inside under Leandro Goncalves and caught Slides Choice and Don'ttalktome in the final strides to pull a 23-1 upset in the $300,000 Lexus Raven Run (gr. II) for 3-year-old fillies Oct. 24 at Keeneland.

Skylighter Easily Wins Allaire duPont

Julien Leparoux sent Skylighter to the front, and the Sky Mesa filly just coasted around the track to an easy victory in the first stakes on the Preakness day undercard May 16, the Allaire duPont Distaff (gr. II).

'General' and 'Private' in Preakness Works

General Quarters and Flying Private, the respective 10th- and 19th- place finishers in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), worked at Churchill Downs May 11 as they tuned up for the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).

Two Colts Shade 10 in Barretts Works

A colt by Sky Mesa and a colt by Five Star Day each worked an eighth of a mile in 9 4/5 May 7, the fastest times at the first preview day for the May 11 Barretts sale of 2-year-olds in training in California.

General Quarters Takes Blue Grass

Some thought General Quarters' Sam F. Davis (gr. III) win two starts back was a fluke. But the son of Sky Mesa proved them wrong by powering to a 1 1/2-length victory in the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) on April 11 at Keeneland, and he will now head to next month's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) as a legitimate contender.

Sky Mesa Returned to Breeding

Sky Mesa, who underwent two colic-related surgeries in mid-February, returned to the breeding shed April 6 at Robert N. Clay's Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky.

Sky Mesa Still Sidelined

Sky Mesa, who was hoped to be back breeding around March 20 after two operations related to colic, remains on the sidelines at Robert N. Clay's Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky.

Sky Mesa Back at Three Chimneys Farm

Sky Mesa, the 9-year-old stallion who had two operations related to a bout of colic, arrived back at Three Chimneys Farm Feb. 25 from Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital near Lexington and is on schedule to return to breeding around March 20.

Porter on Pedigrees: General Quarters

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

One generally doesn't expect to find Kentucky Derby hopefuls hurtling down 4 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs in May of their juvenile season. Even less expected would be for that debut to be in a $20,000 maiden claiming event. That, however, was the launching point for the career of General Quarters.

Additional Surgery for Sky Mesa

Sky Mesa, the 9-year-old stallion who underwent colic surgery Feb. 15, is being kept at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital where an additional operation was performed Feb. 19 to correct an impaction, according to Three Chimneys farm president Case Clay.

Sky Mesa Undergoes Surgery for Colic

Sky Mesa, whose son General Quarters entered the Triple Crown picture with an upset victory in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (gr. III) on Feb. 14, has been taken out of service after undergoing surgery for colic over the weekend. Colic is acute abdominal pain.

Midshipman High-Weight on Experimental

Midshipman, winner of the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), received the high weight assignment of 126 pounds on the 2008 Experimental Free Handicap,

Sky Mesa Colt Tops; Day's Market off 36%

A weanling colt by Sky Mesa sold for $77,000 during the Nov. 14 session of Keeneland's November breeding stock sale. The day's gloomy final figures weren't any different from the rest of the sessions, with the gross off 36% from last year's figures.

Second-Crop Sires Shuffle in 2008

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

The sires with their first 3-year-olds racing in 2008 have seen some reshuffling among the leaders by progeny earnings, particularly compared with the rankings of this sire class as freshmen.

Improving Family Produces Sky Diva

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

Sky Diva is at the crossroads of an improving sire and an improving family. Sky Mesa started slowly but now runners from his first crop have become graded stakes winners and his second crop of juveniles running this year already includes five stakes winners. At the top is grade I winner Sky Diva. The filly's family has also been improving over the past four years.

Sky Diva Soars Past Frizette Foes

Jeffrey Puglisi's Sky Diva won the $400,000 Frizette Stakes (gr.I) Oct. 4 at Belmont Park and earned herself a starting berth to the $2 million Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr.I) Oct. 24 at Santa Anita.

Skylighter Breaks Clear in Indiana Oaks

Skylighter, making her stakes debut after a layoff of nearly three months for trainer Bobby Frankel, made her 14-1 odds look like a gift when she charged home to win the $406,400 Indiana Oaks (gr. II) by three lengths at Hoosier Park Oct. 3.

Terrain Wins on Double DQ at Arlington

Terrain got the best of a messy stretch run in the $200,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity (gr. III) when he was elevated from a third-place finish to victory following a rare double disqualification at Arlington Park Sept. 13.

Storm Mesa Wins San Clemente in Turf Bow

It seems that no matter what they throw at the vastly improving Storm Mesa, she can handle it. In her latest test, the daughter of Sky Mesa was shipped to Del Mar for her turf debut July 26, and in spite of an eventful trip, she rallied past pacesetter Misty Ocean and Tasha's Miracle to win the $150,000 San Clemente Handicap (gr. IIT) for her fifth consecutive triumph.

Peace Rules Filly Tops OBS June Sale

The 2008 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-year-olds in training sale saw the number of horses sold and the gross increase over last year's figures, while the average and median price fell off slightly during the two-day sale June 17-18 in Central Florida.

City Zip Colt Tops Ocala Under Tack Show

A 2-year-old colt by City Zip consigned by agent Woodside Ranch zipped a quarter in :21 flat to post the fastest work at the distance at the second session of the under tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's "2008 June Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age."