By Joe Bianca
When the rains came in New York last weekend, the connections of leading sprinter A.P. Indian (Indian Charlie) made the strategic decision to skip the GI Vosburgh S. and instead point to the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S., a race that came up sloppy last year and saw their charge finish a subpar sixth behind champion Runhappy (Super Saver). The weather is projected to be beautiful on Keeneland's opening day, and A.P. Indian looks tough to down this time around in the six-furlong test.
After showing promise intermittently through his first three seasons and capturing a pair of stakes last term, A.P. Indian has turned the corner as a 6-year-old into the country's most prominent sprinter. He carries into the Phoenix a four-race winning streak that includes victories in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. and GI Priority One Jets Forego S. at Saratoga.
“He is sounder this year,” trainer Arnaud Delacour told the Keeneland notes team. “He had a few setbacks last year and we could not train him properly. He was not 100% here last year. He had beaten horses that Runhappy had beaten and with the weather, it was not a true indication of his ability.”
The stiffest test for the odds-on morning line favorite could come from Ami's Flatter (Flatter), who put in the best effort of his life in comfortably winning Keeneland's GIII Commonwealth S. Apr. 9. His main challenge, aside from the favorite, may be the distance, as he has yet to run shorter than seven furlongs in 12 career starts. Limousine Liberal (Successful Appeal) also returns to the scene of his career high, having set the Keeneland track record for 6 1/2 furlongs at 1:15.05 in an optional claimer on that same Apr. 9 card. That appeared to be a springboard performance for the Ben Colebrook trainee, but he's failed to find the mark in four subsequent starts, including a seventh-place finish behind A.P. Indian in the Forego.
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