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Graded Earnings: $323,185 Race Record: 3-1-1

The dark bay colt's debut came in winning fashion on July 17, 2005 at Hollywood Park at 7-1. He ran a disappointing 6th in the Del Mar Futurity last year. A.P. Warrior won the Oak Tree on November 4, 2005 where he beat Bob and John by 4 lengths. He's also posted wins in the Hollywood Futurity and the San Felipe. He ran a solid second at Oak Tree on October 2 last year where he couldn't quite run down Brother Derek. This year A.P. Warrior ran a decent 4th in the El Camino Real and captured the show money in the Santa Anita Derby.

A.P. Warrior is by Horse of the Year and champion A.P. Indy, a son of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew and the leading sire in North America in 2003. A.P. Indy also has a very prominent female family. His dam, Weekend Surprise, was a multiple graded stakes winner and produced nine winners as a broodmare, including Summer Squall, winner of the Preakness, Welcome Surprise, winner of the Dogwood, and stakes placed horses Honor Grades and Weekend In Seattle.

Jockey Corey Nakatani will climb aboard A.P. Warrior Saturday in his 11th Derby mount. Nakatani has yet to smell the roses, with his best Derby finish being 4th, which he's done twice. Nakatani, 35, is a native of Covina, California. He was introduced to racing at age 16 by his father, who was a Japanese-American born in a WWII internment camp and spent time at Santa Anita when it was a relocation camp.Nakatani began galloping and breaking horses for the legendary Johnny Longden, and began riding in 1988 at Caliente Racetrack, moving to Southern California the next year.

A.P. Warrior is owned by Stanley Fulton, who was born February 15, 1931 in Cumberland, MD, and is the former head of Anchor Gaming and a noted philanthropist. He built his fortune by founding a small gaming equipment manufacturing company that eventually was bought by Anchor Gaming. He bought Sunland Park from Anchor in October 2000, and with the help of casino gaming, purses have increased over 100% since the purchase.

A.P. Warrior is trained by John Shirreffs. Shirreffswas born June 1, 1945 in Leavenworth, Kansas, and grew up in New Hampshire, where his family ran a small breeding operation. Later he worked as an assistant to trainers Brian Mayberry and Bill Spawr before he took out his trainer's license in 1978; winning his first stakes two years later. He's had but one starter in the Kentucky Derby, but made the most of it when Giacomo scored a 50-1 upset to take the Roses in 2005.

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