AP Political Patriot storms home in Sterlie Bertram Memorial Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis

AP Political Patriot was on a mission in the 17^th running of the $129,400 Sterlie Bertram Memorial Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Guided by Francisco Quintero, the sophomore son of EOS A Political Win was a dominant winner in 19.751 seconds in the 400-yard dash named in honor of a gentleman, Sterlie Bertram, who worked tirelessly on the team to elevate Quarter Horse racing in Indiana. Bertram was inducted into the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Hall of Fame in 2013.

AP Political Patriot came out of the gate like a bullet for Quintero and was in command of the field of 10 from the start. He held his advantage the entire way and even opened up near the end of the sprint, winning by one and three-quarter lengths over Beach First and Leonardo Rodriguez. Drinkinatacartelbar and Daniel Martinez closed quickly on the outside to finish third.

“He (AP Political Patriot) was a little shaky coming into the gate,” noted Quintero. “But I was able to calm him down and as soon as the gate opened, he took off and went all the way to the wire.”

 AP Political Patriot was the third fastest qualifier from the trials, finishing second to WRs Mynameisrip to advance into the final. He was overlooked by the betting public, paying $41.80 for the win. He is a home bred born and raised at the Preciado farm in Northern Indiana for owner-breeder-trainer Oscar Preciado.

The win was his third overall and his second stakes victory, adding to his Restricted Grade 3 win in last year’s QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Futurity victory at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

“We noticed at the beginning of the season he (AP Political Patriot) was a little bit jumpier than we wanted him,” said Preciado, who was joined in the winner’s circle by his father, Alberto. “In the paddock, he was nervous but, in the end, he seems to have calmed down quite a bit. He qualified to all the Derbies but in the final, he had something happen and had some bad luck. Today he just performed well, and nothing got in his way, and he took off. I saw the 10 (Drinkinatacartelbar) closing in, and I was saying ‘just don’t catch up.’ But he was strong all the way to the wire today.”

Preciado, who is a mechanical engineer by trade for Genesis Products in Goshen, Ind., took a half day off from work to attend the race to watch his horses run. Preciado graduated from Notre Dame but picked up a love of Quarter Horse racing from his father, Alberto, who rode down with him for the race from their Northern Indiana home.

Preciado tags all his horses with “AP” at the beginning of their names in honor of his father, mother, and daughter, who all have the initials “AP.”

“He (AP Political Patriot) has a half-sister by Mr Piloto that is a weanling right now and next year we will have a half-sister to Luna (AP Miss Lunas Tide) that is a yearling right now,” added Preciado. “We have six brood mares and will have three yearlings coming up for next year.”

The Quarter Horse stakes season comes to a close on Indiana Champions Day set for Oct. 25 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The day will feature the state’s largest purses ever for Quarter Horse racing with purses exceeding $1 million for the second portion of the program.

First post for Indiana Champions Day is 11 a.m. with Quarter Horse racing getting underway around 2:30p.m.

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