Keeneland September gets underway on Monday, and with it comes another early glimpse at Curlin’s fifth crop.

Fourteen yearlings by Curlin were originally entered in the sale. As of today, only one has been declared out: Hip 2669, a colt out of Seattle Society (A.P. Indy). Even with this hip out of the sale, A.P. Indy remains the most popular damsire among the Curlin babies heading to the ring at Keeneland September. Three other hips by Curlin (2152, 2203, and 2296) come from A.P. Indy mares. With five members of Curlin’s fifth crop being out of A.P. Indy mares, this is still a significant portion of that set who will be available at Keeneland November.

This crop continues a familiar tune of Curlin babies coming out of A.P. Indy mares.

In his first five crops, there were eighteen Curlin babies out of A.P. Indy mares – the most by any damsire. Only Storm Cat comes close; through Curlin’s first five crops, sixteen of his progeny were out of Storm Cat mares.

Out of Curlin’s crops of racing age, there have been thirteen registered foals out of A. P. Indy mares. Nine have raced, and six have won. Three (Top Billing, Bold Shot, and Captured) have won in the United States, two (Chekist and Kolchak) have won in Russia, and one (Cabecinho) won in Brazil.

Top Billing (Parade Queen) has easily proved the classiest of the Curlin babies out of A.P. Indy mares, finishing third in the Fountain of Youth (GII) last year. However, he has not fulfilled the potential he showed since returning this year from the injury that derailed his Triple Crown trail chances last year. So far he still only has his two early-career wins to his credit: a juvenile maiden win going six furlongs at Laurel, and an N1X win at a mile and a sixteenth at Gulfstream. Both came on dirt.

Bold Shot (Soul Search) and Captured (Alluring) have not been stakes horses, but both have proven dependable and durable in the claiming ranks. Five-year-old Bold Shot has five wins in 27 starts, including two wins this year, with another five money finishes. All five wins have come in the claiming ranks, but they have come at distances between a mile and seventy yards and a mile and an eighth, on both dirt and turf. Four-year-old Captured has found his niche as a hard knocker at Penn National. In 21 career starts, he has won seven times and hit the board another three. Six of those wins have come at Penn National, with the only outlier being a maiden win at Pimlico. All seven of those wins have covered between eight and eight and a half furlongs, and all seven have come came on dirt.

Going abroad, three-year-old Chekist (Koko Pop) has been quite successful in Russia. In six starts at ages two and three, he has five wins and a second-place finish to his credit, all on dirt. His only blemish has been a second-place finish four and a half lengths behind Ikaryi in the 2YO Grand Prix (GI – RUS) last year. His wins have come going as short at 1,000 meters (about five furlongs), and as long as 1,800 (about 1 1/8 miles). Both of his wins this year have come at 1,800 meters, including a win in the Season Opening Stakes (GIII – RUS) at Central Moscow Hippodrome. Five-year-old Kolchak (Sheer Luck) has not raced this season, but ran eleven times in Russia at ages two through four. His wins all came in conditions races over dirt, between 1,800 and 2,000 meters (about 1 1/8 miles to about 1 ¼ miles). Cabecinho (Lindy Wells) has raced three times in Brazil, and notched a maiden win at second asking in February of this year. That race covered a 1,200-meter distance (about six furlongs) over dirt.

It turns out the trends that one would expect to see from Curlin babies out of A.P. Indy mares do hold.  One would expect to see runners sired by a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, with another as damsire, able to cover a long distance. These winning Curlin babies out of A.P. Indy mares do not disappoint. Out of the six to have won anywhere in the world, all but the lightly-raced Cabecinho have won at a mile or longer. They have also done their best work over dirt, though Bold Shot has also proven himself over the grass.