Aptitude is a half-brother to grade I winner Sleep Easy, and his second dam, Alluvial, is the dam of champion Slew o' Gold and classic winner Coastal.
Millionaire Aptitude, whose 123 Beyer Speed Figure recorded in the Oct. 6 Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) remains the highest for the year, has been retired from racing to stand at his birthplace, Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms, near Lexington for a $25,000 fee. He is scheduled to arrive Nov. 2. Four-year-old Aptitude ran unplaced in the Oct. 27 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) as the 2-1 favorite and enters stud with a record of five wins from 15 starts and earnings of $1,965,410.A Juddmonte homebred, Aptitude (A.P. Indy--Dokki, by Northern Dancer) also won this year's Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (gr. I) and Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. II) and placed in the Californian Stakes (gr. II). Last year, his main performances came in runner-up efforts in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Belmont Stakes (gr. I).