SANTA ANITA : A.P Indy Proves He Isn’t Afraid of Whip, Wins San Rafael Stakes

Kentucky Derby candidates are still supposed to be learning at this time of the year, and sometimes those training them are learning, too.

Neil Drysdale learned something about A.P. Indy, a 3-year-old son of Seattle Slew who was forced to work hard to overtake a 21-1 shot, Treekster, and win Saturday’s $157,800 San Rafael Stakes by three quarters of a length.

“He’s got another gear, doesn’t he?” Drysdale said as he headed back to the test barn to check on A.P. Indy, who made his first start in nine weeks and extended his winning streak to four. The only time the Hollywood Futurity winner lost was in his first start, a fourth-place finish in August at Del Mar.

At the eighth pole of Saturday’s mile race, A.P. Indy looked as if he was beaten. Treekster, made the longest shot on the board by a crowd of 23,164, hadn’t run in a stake and had beaten only maidens in three starts, but he was two lengths in front.

In mid-stretch, Eddie Delahoussaye went to the whip on A.P. Indy, more than making up for not hitting the horse at all at Hollywood Park. Delahoussaye hit A.P. Indy 11 times with his left hand, and he responded. Treekster was tiring, and A.P. Indy passed him with about 40 yards to go.

Prince Wild finished third in the six-horse field, nine lengths behind Treekster, and another half-length back was Hickman Creek, another Seattle Slew colt who raced in the middle of the track all the way around.

A.P. Indy is owned by Japanese developer Tomonori Tsurumaki, who paid $2.9 million for the yearling. Saturday’s victory was worth $90,300, increasing A.P. Indy’s earnings to $447,555. He paid $3 to win and was timed in 1:35 2/5, faster than Dinard and Mister Frisky ran in winning the stake the past two years. The other two horses both went on to win the Santa Anita Derby.

This year’s Santa Anita Derby will be run April 4. On March 15, the San Felipe Stakes will be run at 1 1/16 miles. Drysdale said A.P. Indy may run in both races or wait for the Santa Anita Derby. “We’ll see what the horse tells us,” the trainer said.

Many believed A.P. Indy might not respond well to being whipped; Delahoussaye gave him a hand ride in beating Dance Floor by a neck in the Hollywood Futurity.

“This should assure everyone that the horse will respond,” Drysdale said Saturday. “The two things I liked the most about the race were the way he finished and how he responded.”

When A.P. Indy was turning for home, Drysdale thought he was tiring--but Delahoussaye told the trainer later that the horse was loafing.

“I didn’t know if he was going to catch the other horse,” Delahoussaye said. “My horse . . . kind of runs steady. It wasn’t until the last sixteenth of a mile that he really dug in. I used him up the last eighth of a mile. He’s still green.”

Treekster never had run around two turns and had lost eight days of training because of a pulled muscle. But he had had some sharp morning workouts.

“He ran super,” said the colt’s trainer, Vladimir Cerin. “He’s still a baby, and he’s still learning, but this was a huge race for him.”

Treekster was the pace-setter, running fractions of 46 for the half-mile and 1:10 for three-quarters. Prince Wild, a minor stakes winner during the early days of the meeting, was up near the lead for a while, as was Silver Ray.

A.P. Indy, running in third most of the way down the backstretch, had Hickman Creek at his outside flank at all times. When A.P. Indy moved up to concentrate on the leaders at the far turn, Hickman Creek didn’t move with him.

Hickman Creek’s trainer, Wayne Lukas, walked off the track disgustedly. “This is a throw-out race, as far as I’m concerned,” Lukas said. “The horse was wide the whole way. There was no plan about where we’d be early, but we didn’t want to be wide. If you could draw up a diagram for a disaster, this would be the way to draw it.”

Horse Racing Notes

Bertrando, unraced since his second-place finish, five lengths behind Arazi, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November, worked six furlongs Saturday morning in preparation for his 3-year-old debut in the San Felipe Stakes on March 15. “This was his fastest work,” trainer Bruce Headley said. “We used two rabbits, so he had something to shoot at all the way, and he finished strong. Still, we’re behind a lot of the other horses. Much of the competition is running races. And a race helps a horse more than 10 workouts do.” Bertrando suffered a torn hoof running in the Breeders’ Cup and got a late start this year.

Paseana already has beaten all of her rivals in today’s Santa Margarita Handicap. The 5-year-old mare will carry 122 pounds, spotting them from four to eight pounds. Every horse in the race but Colour Chart was bred in Argentina. Paseana’s retired stablemate, Bayakoa, won the Santa Margarita in 1989-90 and was second to Little Brianne in last year’s running. . . . Trainer Neil Drysdale will try to win with Laramie Moon.

Ron McAnally, who trains Paseana, has sent his stakes-winning Olympio to Kentucky for a rest. . . . In Excess, getting ready for next Saturday’s Santa Anita Handicap, worked six furlongs in a sharp 1:11 and Defensive Play, another probable for the race, went seven furlongs in 1:26. In Excess’ work was the fastest among 39 horses at that distance. . . . The trainer-jockey pair of Drysdale and Eddie Delahoussaye warmed up for their San Rafael victory by winning Saturday’s third race with Free At Last.