LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It took every ounce of effort and a track record, but A. P. Indian stayed unbeaten in 2016 when edging Limousine Liberal in a thrilling 164th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Phoenix Stakes on Friday, opening day of the Keeneland fall meet.After a prolonged stretch duel, A. P. Indian was a nose in front on the wire when completing the six-furlong distance in 1:08.43 over a fast track. The hard-fought victory was the sixth in as many starts this year for the 6-year-old A. P. Indian, who now heads to the Nov. 5 Breeders Cup Sprint at Santa Anita as one of the obvious favorites.Hes just been a champion all along, said winning jockey Joe Bravo. What makes him so special is he listens. He breathes, he relaxes. It wasnt like we were out there running against nothing. My hats off to the horse who took us to the wire. He was really tough.A .P. Indian returned $2.80 as a heavy favorite in a field of seven older horses. Limousine Liberal, a 6-1 shot ridden by Jose Ortiz, was another 3-1/2 lengths before Amis Flatter, the 9-2 second choice who was up in the final jump to get third over Alsvid.Before an ontrack crowd of 19,882, and under sultry conditions for early October, The Great War set the pace to the quarter pole while tracked closely by Limousine Liberal to the outside and A .P. Indian along the rail. After straightening away, the two chasers pulled away from the others.I was worried since the three-eighths pole when he got shuffled back, said Arnaud Delacour, who trains A. P. Indian at Fair Hill in northern Maryland for the geldings breeders, the Green Lantern Stables of Richard Masson. I knew it was going to be tough to make up ground. He did a great job.Delacour scratched A. P. Indian last weekend from the Grade 1 Vosburgh when the track came up sloppy at Belmont Park. A .P. Indian, by Indian Charlie, now has won 11 of 17 career starts and earned $1,262,434.The Phoenix is a Win and Youre In event toward the BC Sprint, but A .P. Indian already had his free ticket after capturing the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga on Aug. 27. That means the narrow defeat was even more costly for Limousine Liberal than the difference between the first- and second-place shares of the Phoenix purse. Ben Colebrook trains the 4-year-old Limousine Liberal for K.K. Ball.When [A .P. Indian] went by me, my horse dug back in, said jockey Jose Ortiz. I think one more stride and he would have gotten him.While the time was quick, this is just the fifth meet at Keeneland since Polytrack was replaced by a new dirt surface and all track records began anew.The attendance was a record for a Friday opening of the fall meet.The $2 exacta (1-5) paid $8.20, the $1 trifecta (1-5-3) returned $13.30, and the 10-cent superfecta (1-5-3-4) was worth $3.88. Braydon Coburn Lightning Jersey . 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OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- As confident as trainer Tony Dutrow was that his 2-year-old Mo Town was going to run a big race in Saturdays Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, he didnt necessarily know if that would be good enough to win it.The horse was coming off a two-month layoff, missed a scheduled start in the Nashua in early November due to a sore gluteal muscle, and was facing a fast and formidable foe in Takaful.But none of that mattered Saturday as Mo Town rallied past the pacesetting Takaful in midstretch and easily held No Dozing at bay to win the $300,000 Remsen Stakes by 2-1/2 lengths and give Dutrow and his new partners reason for optimism as they look ahead to the colts 3-year-old year.I feel very strongly we have not seen what this horse is capable of yet, Dutrow said in the winners circle.What we have seen so far is a talented, well-bred colt -- hes a son of Uncle Mo -- who has now won two of three starts, including a graded stakes going 1-1/8 miles around two turns. The win in the Remsen gave Mo Town 10 qualifying points toward the May 6 Kentucky Derby under a system utilized by Churchill Downs should the Derby, as usually happens, draw more than 20 entrants.Mo Town won despite having to be the one to make the first run at Takaful, who was bet to 4-5 favoritism after an impressive maiden wing going 6-1/2 furlongs at Belmont on Oct. 29. Takaful broke awkwardly, and when he recovered, he dragged jockey Jose Ortiz to the lead, opening up a 4-1/2-length advantage after running an opening quarter in 23.47 seconds.Mo Town, under John Velazquez, was fourth going into the first turn, but when neither Newman nor Win With Pride decided to go after Takaful, Velazquez felt he had to with Mo Town and moved him within a length of Takaful after a half-mile in 48.84 seconds.Nobody wants to go with him, so I had to do the dirty job, Velazquez said.Mo Town tracked Takaful from a length behind through six furlongs in 1:14.02. Mo Town drew closer approaching the quarter pole, drew on equal terms at the three-sixteenths, and moved into the lead before the eighth pole.ddddddddddddHe extended his advantage in the final furlong, which he ran in 12.71 seconds, and covered the 1-1/8 miles in 1:51.59. He returned $10.40 as the second choice.I thought in watching the race that Mo Town was very comfortable the entire race, Dutrow said. Ive always felt like he was a good horse; for him to prove this much so far, I got to feel great.Mo Town lost his debut on Travers Day at Saratoga and then won a one-mile maiden race at Belmont by seven lengths on Sept. 24. It was after that race that Dutrow and his Team D Stables sold a majority interest in Mo Town to the Coolmore connections of Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor.Dutrow said Mo Town would winter in Payson Park in Florida, and if it was up to him, he would like to bring the horse back to New York for the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct on March 4.No Dozing, coming off a fourth to Classic Empire in the Breeders Futurity, had a wide trip, breaking from post 9 under Daniel Centeno, and was simply second-best.He ran great. I wish he would have had the opportunity to save a little bit more ground, trainer Arnaud Delacour said. Nobody to blame, just circumstances. We had an outside post. Its a little bit hard, but he ran a really good race.Takaful had everybody excited after his eight-length maiden win at Belmont. Still, going from one 6-1/2-furlong race to 1-1/8 miles is a big jump, and the awkward start definitely didnt help.The break didnt help us, and he looked like he was pretty keen the first eighth after the break, but he dug in and held on for third, said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.Following Takaful, the order of finish was Win With Pride, Youre to Blame, Tale of Silence, Tellmeafookystory, Hookup, Newman, and Lead Astray. ' ' '