A P Valentine Represented by First Winner

Grade I winner A P Valentine was represented by his first winner Sunday when Higgie, a 2-year-old filly, broke her maiden at first asking in Monmouth Park's first race.

Bred in Kentucky by Cherry Valley Farm LLC, Rick Pitino, and Joey Carballeira, Higgie is out of Aces, by Housebuster and is from A P Valentine's second crop as a sire.

Ridden by Charles Lopez, she defeated a $32,000 maiden claiming field going five furlongs by 3 1/4 lengths for trainer Cam Gambolati and owner Runnin Cardinal Stable.

A P Valentine, who now stands at Cedar Creek Farm in Brenham, Texas, has had nine foals of racing age in his first two crops. Seven are 2-year-olds this year, of which Higgie is the first starter. A P Valentine, who had one starter from his first crop, is by A.P. Indy-Twenty Eight Carat, by Alydar.

Owned by Pitino, A P Valentine won the 2000 Champagne (gr. I) as a 2-year-old and finished second in both the Preakness (gr. I) and Belmont (gr. I) stakes the following year. He earned $864,170 in a 13-race career.