Legendary stallion A.P. Indy, foundation sire of Lane’s End Farm, dies at 31
A.P. Indy, a winner of the Belmont Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Classic who went on to become a leading sire, has died at 31.
According to The Bloodhorse.com, the retired stallion died peacefully in his sleep on Feb. 21 at Lane’s End Farm, where he stood his entire career.
Bill Farish told The Bloodhorse that the horse died of the infirmities of old age.
“A.P. Indy passed away peacefully in his stall at the Lane’s End stallion complex, the barn he called home for 27 years,” a statement from Lane’s End Farm said. “Champion A.P. Indy’s list of accomplishments range far and wide as his legacy continues to be carried through the outstanding performances of his sons and daughters across the globe. He was the most important and popular member of the Lane’s End team and we are deeply sorry to all who loved him as much as we did.”
A.P. Indy raced for William S. Farish in partnership and won eight of his 11 career starts.
Will Farish bred the son of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew with W.S. Kilroy. They sold him as a yearling for $2.9 million in 1990 to Tomonori Tsurumaki; Farish and Kilroy later bought an interest in the colt.
“He’s been an outstanding horse for us from the beginning,” Will Farish said in 2011. “He was a top yearling, he was such a wonderful racehorse and sire and now as a sire of sires.
“You can certainly go a lifetime and never have a horse do what A.P. has done.”
The 1992 Horse of the Year, A.P. Indy was a legendary sire with royal breeding: His dam was Weekend Surprise, herself a daughter of Triple Crown winner Secretariat.
A Hall of Fame racehorse, A.P. Indy’s Belmont Stakes win tied Easy Goer as the second-fastest in history, behind only his grandfather Secretariat’s time.
He retired to Lane’s End in 1993 with an initial stud fee of $50,000. The fee rose to $300,000 at one point; when he retired in 2011, his fee was listed at $150,000.
A.P. Indy was the leading North American sire in 2003 and 2006 and he produced multiple sons who went on to become stallions in their own right.
Among them were Pulpit, sire of current leading sire Tapit; Sky Mesa; Malibu Moon; Mineshaft; Stephen Got Even; Bernardini; and Honor Code, who was from his last crop.
He also sired many champion fillies, including Rags to Riches, who also won the Belmont Stakes.
“He’s been the foundation of our farm, there is no question about it,” Farish said in 2011.
