Sunday, August 15, 2010
A.P. Flatter won Saturday’s 6 ½-furlong, $30,000 Chamisa Handicap for fillies and mares, as The Downs at Albuquerque opened its 59-day meet in front of a crowd of 3,142.
Saddled by Bart Hone and ridden by Mark Villa for owner Patricia Grunwald, A.P. Flatter rallied off of fractions of :22.82 and :45.42 before stopping the timer in 1:17.12. She was sent to post as the 13-10 favorite in the field of 11, and her margin of victory was 5 ¾ lengths from runner-up Snowdrop.
A.P. Flatter was bred in Kentucky by Claiborne Farm, and the 5-year-old bay mare is one of 117 winners from 164 starters sired by Flatter, a winning and Grade 2-placed son of the Seattle Slew stallion A.P. Indy. Now 11 and a full brother to Grade 2 winner Congrats, Flatter has sired the earners of more than $6.9 million from four crops. He stands for a $5,000 fee at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky.
A.P. Flatter is also one of four winners from as many starters produced by the winning Alleged mare Adalene. Her second dam, the Hold Your Peace mare La Paz, won three stakes in Arizona and California from 1990-92, including the $55,642 Arizona Breeders’ Futurity (R) at Turf Paradise.
Now 22, La Paz has foaled four stakes winners from nine starters, including Mission Impazible, the winner of this year’s $750,000 Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds Racecourse; the late Spanish Empire, the winner of the 2004 Fifth Season Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park; and 1999 Del Mar Futurity (G2) winner Forest Camp.
A.P. Flatter’s third dam, the Crafty Drone mare Classy Craft, won the ’81 Phoenix Futurity at Turf Paradise and foaled two blacktype winners in addition to La Paz – 1989 Arizona Breeders’ Derby (R) winner My Treat and Classy Sheikh, the winner of the 2000 Swift Stakes at Turf Paradise.
A $10,000 buy at the 2007 Barretts Equine Limited Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, A.P. Flatter has banked $93,144 from 16 starts, and her five wins include the July 10, 7 ½-furlong Fern Sawyer Handicap at Ruidoso Downs. The mare also ran third in the ’08 Aspen Cup Handicap at Ruidoso.
A.P. Flatter returned a $4.60 win mutuel and teamed with Snowdrop for a $15.80 ($2) exacta. Indiabonita, a 12-1 longshot, ran third to complete an $89.60 ($2) trifecta.
Value System, Cherry One, More To The Story, Kings Money Honey, Orabell, It’s A Promise, and Blue Haze Day completed the order of finish.
A 7-year-old daughter of Beau Genius racing for Mark Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, Snowdrop earned $6,000 to push her bankroll to $282,920. The mare’s six wins in 38 outs include the 2008 Chamisa and West Mesa handicaps at Albuquerque, and the ’07 Alameda County Handicap at Pleasanton, California.
Indiabonita earned $3,000 for her owner, Cielito Lindo Stables. The 5-year-old mare by Chief Seattle and one-time $8,000 claimer has banked $65,534 from three wins in 32 races, and her race record includes a runner-up finish to Value System in last year’s West Mesa Handicap.