Very few Thoroughbreds become champions in three different spheres: the sale ring, the racetrack, and the breeding shed. Fewer still merit the description "breed-shaping," in the sense of making such an outstanding contribution to the breed that one would have to envision a different direction for the Thoroughbred had this one individual not existed.
For A.P. Indy, the jury (at least in my opinion) is still out on the "breed-shaping" part, as it will probably take another twenty or thirty years before his full influence is revealed. Nevertheless, there is no denying his merit as a physical individual, as a racehorse, or as a stallion, nor can one underestimate the impact he had on the people who surrounded him. From farm workers to multimillionaire owners and breeders to fans, A.P. Indy was the horse of a lifetime and more. In A.P. Indy: Champion Racehorse and Breed Shaping Sire (2026, University Press of Kentucky), veteran writer Lenny Shulman tells the story of an unforgettable animal whose Midas touch extended to every aspect of the Thoroughbred industry.
Drawing on decades of connections made during his work in journalism, Shulmann vividly portrays the web of individuals surrounding a Thoroughbred during the stages of its life--and sometimes even before a horse is ever conceived, as families of mares are nurtured through generations before the crucial mating is planned that catches lightning in a bottle. In that sense, A.P. Indy's story begins two generations before his birth, when William Farish III began developing two dreams. One dream was Lane's End Farm, now one of Kentucky's premier breeding entities and sale consignors. The other dream began with a half interest in a good race mare named Lassie Dear. She would become the grandmother of the stallion Farish aimed for of as he built up his farm---the kind of horse who could put a breeding business at the top of the Thoroughbred industry. Through the union of Lassie Dear's daughter Weekend Surprise with Seattle Slew, Farish produced that horse in A.P. Indy, an animal who combined the genetics for exceptional ability with the physique to deliver on that ability.
Yet, as A.P. Indy took his first wobbly steps in the spring of 1989, he became the nexus of an intricate dance of interconnected decisions, each with the potential to culminate in fulfillment of his potential or a derailment to the obscurity that claims the vast majority of even the most outstanding foals. As Shulman moves through A.P. Indy's journey from sale-topping yearling to America's Horse of the Year and then to outstanding sire and sire of sires, he provides an intimate look at the development of a champion as both an athlete and a business asset, as a personality and as the focus of tough decisions made for both the animal's welfare and for business reasons. It was the job of A.P. Indy's human team to create and then unlock his vast potential; to place him where his inherent assets could be best used; to protect his physical and mental health while honing his abilities; and to capitalize on the value he created as a racer and stallion. Shulman understands all of this, and it is his in-depth grasp of the minutiae of the various aspects of the Thoroughbred industry, centered around the life and career of a horse he clearly admires as no other, that sets this book apart as an equine biography.
A.P. Indy is one of two books kicking off the University Press of Kentucky's "Racing Royalty" series (the other is my own Holy Bull: An Unconventional Path to Racing Glory), and if Shulmann's work is any indication, this series should be off to a great start in its mission of introducing readers to the great horses of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It isn't a long read, but it packs a great deal into limited space and belongs on the bookshelves of both racing fans and serious students of the Thoroughbred.
For A.P. Indy, the jury (at least in my opinion) is still out on the "breed-shaping" part, as it will probably take another twenty or thirty years before his full influence is revealed. Nevertheless, there is no denying his merit as a physical individual, as a racehorse, or as a stallion, nor can one underestimate the impact he had on the people who surrounded him. From farm workers to multimillionaire owners and breeders to fans, A.P. Indy was the horse of a lifetime and more. In A.P. Indy: Champion Racehorse and Breed Shaping Sire (2026, University Press of Kentucky), veteran writer Lenny Shulman tells the story of an unforgettable animal whose Midas touch extended to every aspect of the Thoroughbred industry.
Drawing on decades of connections made during his work in journalism, Shulmann vividly portrays the web of individuals surrounding a Thoroughbred during the stages of its life--and sometimes even before a horse is ever conceived, as families of mares are nurtured through generations before the crucial mating is planned that catches lightning in a bottle. In that sense, A.P. Indy's story begins two generations before his birth, when William Farish III began developing two dreams. One dream was Lane's End Farm, now one of Kentucky's premier breeding entities and sale consignors. The other dream began with a half interest in a good race mare named Lassie Dear. She would become the grandmother of the stallion Farish aimed for of as he built up his farm---the kind of horse who could put a breeding business at the top of the Thoroughbred industry. Through the union of Lassie Dear's daughter Weekend Surprise with Seattle Slew, Farish produced that horse in A.P. Indy, an animal who combined the genetics for exceptional ability with the physique to deliver on that ability.
Yet, as A.P. Indy took his first wobbly steps in the spring of 1989, he became the nexus of an intricate dance of interconnected decisions, each with the potential to culminate in fulfillment of his potential or a derailment to the obscurity that claims the vast majority of even the most outstanding foals. As Shulman moves through A.P. Indy's journey from sale-topping yearling to America's Horse of the Year and then to outstanding sire and sire of sires, he provides an intimate look at the development of a champion as both an athlete and a business asset, as a personality and as the focus of tough decisions made for both the animal's welfare and for business reasons. It was the job of A.P. Indy's human team to create and then unlock his vast potential; to place him where his inherent assets could be best used; to protect his physical and mental health while honing his abilities; and to capitalize on the value he created as a racer and stallion. Shulman understands all of this, and it is his in-depth grasp of the minutiae of the various aspects of the Thoroughbred industry, centered around the life and career of a horse he clearly admires as no other, that sets this book apart as an equine biography.
A.P. Indy is one of two books kicking off the University Press of Kentucky's "Racing Royalty" series (the other is my own Holy Bull: An Unconventional Path to Racing Glory), and if Shulmann's work is any indication, this series should be off to a great start in its mission of introducing readers to the great horses of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It isn't a long read, but it packs a great deal into limited space and belongs on the bookshelves of both racing fans and serious students of the Thoroughbred.