Counting Stars Brings A. P. Indy Branch Into Spotlight

In another lifetime we used to write a great deal of advertising copy for stallions. In that role, we recall penning, in the late 1970s, a line regarding the Irish-based Bold Ruler son Tyrant, stating of his sire that "almost every important race in North America this year has been won by a son or grandson, or by a horse sired by a son or grandson of this great patriarch." Admittedly, there was a little hyperbole there, but given the dominance of the Bold Ruler line in North America during that era, it was not far from the truth. That circumstance did not prevail for long, however, and well before the turn of the century, the sire line had, at the top commercial level, been more or less winnowed down to that descending via Boldnesian and Bold Reasoning to 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. In turn, Seattle Slew's line appears likely to be perpetuated primarily through the 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy (inbred 4x3 to Bold Ruler). Of late, most of the prominence for the A.P. Indy male line has fallen to three-time leading sire Tapit and his sons, but Saturday another branch of A.P. Indy stepped into the spotlight with the victory of Counting Stars in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1). Counting Stars is from the second crop of Honor A. P. His sire, Honor Code, parlayed a late-charging running style into triumphs in the 2015 Metropolitan Handicap (G1), 2015 Whitney Stakes (G1), 2015 Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2), and 2013 Remsen Stakes (G2), earning the title of champion older male of 2015. Exported to Japan at the end of 2023, Honor Code sired a trio of grade 1 winners: 2021 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) scorer Max Player; Maracuja, successful in the 2021 Coaching Club American Oaks; and Honor A. P., who won two of six starts, including a maiden at Santa Anita Park at 2 and a victory over Authentic in the 2020 Santa Anita Derby (G1). Honor A. P., out of the multiple grade 1-winning mare Hollywood Story, retired to stand at Lane's End near Versailles, Ky., for 2021, and his fee for the most recent breeding season was $7,500. He has thus far sired eight stakes winners from 105 starters in his first two crops, with Counting Stars joined as a graded winner by 2025 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) heroine Margie's Intention. Considering that she owns a relatively stout pedigree and has proven best over a distance of ground, it is interesting that Counting Stars showed useful early form over sprint trips. She captured a 6 1/2-furlong Churchill Downs maiden special weight by 4 lengths at first asking at the end of last September. She failed to fire in the Myrtlewood Stakes in her second start but rebounded to capture the 6-furlong Astral Spa Overnight Stakes at Oaklawn Park by 4 lengths, before closing out her 2-year-old campaign with a 6-length triumph in the Year's End Stakes at the same venue. Virtually pulled up in the Martha Washington Stakes in her 2026 debut, the bay put that hiccup behind her with a close second to Explora in the Honeybee Stakes (G3), then produced a dominant display to take the Fantasy Stakes (G2). A third in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) elevated Counting Stars to a place among the leaders of the division, and that ascendancy continued with a 3 3/4-length victory over Oaks 1-2 runners Always a Runner and Meaning in the Acorn Stakes (G1). In the Coaching Club American Oaks, Counting Stars ran a new top Beyer Speed Figure of 100—the best by a 3-year-old filly at a mile or more in 2026—to score by 4 1/4 lengths over Always a Runner. Counting Stars' dam, Paynterbynumbers, scored a wide-margin maiden special weight win over 1 1/16 miles at Laurel Park in her eighth start, but had to drop to $30,000 claiming company to record her only other success. A daughter of Paynter, she is out of Ruth and Neva, a Cherokee Run mare who won at 2 and finished second in the 2010 Bassinet Stakes and third in the 2010 Mountaineer Juvenile Fillies Stakes. She was a half sister to Sassy Sienna and a half sister to stakes-placed Spina (by Cherokee Run's son During), the granddam of Hot Currency, a New York-bred daughter of Central Banker who captured the Fourstar Crook Stakes this year. Counting Stars' third dam, Tap for Gold, is an unraced daughter of Pleasant Tap out of Golden Reef, one of the best of her crop at 2, when her efforts included a win in the 1989 Schuylerville Stakes (G2) and seconds in the Matron Stakes (G1) and Spinaway Stakes (G1). By Mr. Prospector, Golden Reef was out of Virginia Reef, an Irish-bred daughter of Mill Reef who won twice in the United States after being acquired by Buckland Farm from the Citadel Stud of noted breeder Gerry Oldham. Virginia Reef was out of Oldham's excellent runner and producer Caprera, who captured the 1970 Falmouth Stakes, produced three stakes winners headed by 1984 Prix Ganay (G1) winner Romildo, and is the ancestress of more than 80 stakes winners, including additional group/grade 1 winners Most Improved, Ectot, La Pelosa, Al Husn, and Meditate (IRE). The family traces back to one of the greats of English racing, Myrobella. Rated the best 2-year-old of either sex in England in 1932, when she won five consecutive races, defeating colts in the National Produce Stakes and Champagne Stakes, she returned the following season to establish herself as the leading sprinter in training with victories over older males in the July Cup, King George Stakes, and Challenge Stakes. Later the dam of the 1942 Two Thousand Guineas winner and sire Big Game, Myrobella also appears as ancestress of four other English or French classic winners, among them Linamix, twice leading sire in France. Counting Stars and the black-type winner and grade 1-placed Ohana Honor represent two of the eight stakes winners by Honor Code and his sons out of mares by Awesome Again and his sons. The broader cross of A.P. Indy-line stallions over Awesome Again-line mares has produced more than 30 stakes winners, 10 graded, including additional grade 1 winners Long River and American Gal.