Lane's End Puff Release...er...Press Release
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Lane’s End farm announced today that Honor A. P. will retire from racing and stand the 2021 season at their Versailles farm. The three-year-old colt retires as a Grade 1 winner and the top earner of his leading second-crop sire Honor Code.
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This is the roundabout way of saying he’s a one-hit wonder.
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In his most recent start, Honor A. P. dealt with an unlucky trip to finish a quickening fourth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby…
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Unlucky trip or bad ride? Why he was allowed to switch off and hang nearly 15 lengths off the uncontested pace (while going wide into the first turn once again) is beyond me. The horse is bred to be a plodder, but if he had any positive going into the Derby (and there weren’t many) it was that he actually had a modicum of early speed and did well in his previous races with a stalking trip. Ironically, Smith did the exact opposite in the Shared Belief, inexplicably forcing the pace with a wide sweeping early move. To compound the problem, Smith decided to wait until the ¼ pole to set down on the horse (all the while still going wide) when the horse’s other strength has been his ability to accelerate and challenge for the lead on the far turn.
At any rate, if the author of this puff piece actually thought that the horse was "quickening" at the end, I don’t know what to tell you. The horse made up a total of 2 lengths in the stretch.
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…posting a 99 Beyer and traveling an incredible 49 more feet than the winner Authentic. This in turn means that the colt ran the fastest race of the field when accounting for ground loss.
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Rather than dubiously inflating the performance of the horse, most of this basically proves the performance of the rider left a lot to be desired.
And by the way, what a field it was. Hardly missed Nadal, Charlatan, Maxfield, King Guillermo, Art Collector, Thousand Words, Uncle Chuck, Swiss Skydiver…
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“Honor A. P. is a horse with an immense talent,” said trainer John Shirreffs. “He was so forward and precocious that he broke his maiden second time out by over 5 lengths going two turns.
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When I think of precocity, I think of Gulch or Summer Squall or King Glorious or Cryptoclearance winning early baby races in the summer. I don’t think of a horse that wins a low-rated maiden race at Santa Anita in October.
But relatively speaking, I guess in Shirreff’s world the horse was quite precocious…
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Honor A. P. showed brilliance as a two-year-old from the first time I saw him train and replicated it as a three-year-old defeating the future Kentucky Derby winner. He ran a super race in the Derby and we later found that he came out of the race with an injury, so all things considered, what he accomplished was something special.
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Running sluggishly for 10 furlongs, losing to a horse you already defeated, and coming out a race injured are stallion-making qualities now?
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The Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby has long produced breed-shaping sires with past winners including A.P. Indy, Sunday Silence, Affirmed, Pioneerof the Nile and more.
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Affirmed was a breed-shaping sire? In what country?
At least the “...and more” part is tenuously accurate since the author opted not to name Indian Charlie outright…
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“Honor A. P. was a wow horse from the beginning. He was the highest priced yearling in Honor Code’s first crop. He was a standout two-year-old at April Mayberry’s, and the most recognizable horse in training at Santa Anita,” said Bill Farish.“His stunning good looks paired with his obvious talent make him just the type of prospect we are looking for at Lane’s End.”
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From the sound of it, Lane’s End breeds show horses not racehorses.
Whatever happened to stamina, durability, consistency, versatility, and--dare I say--longevity?
At the very least, a classic win (or two) would have been nice…