Indian Charlie was a bright shooting star, a brilliant grade 1 winner whose speed took a physical toll and prevented him from making more than five career starts. The son of the equally brilliant In Excess, however, has made a substantial influence on the Thoroughbred breed, as evidenced by his presence in the sire lines or as a broodmare sire of 15 of this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships starters.
Besides the depth of representation, the Breeders' Cup descendants of Indian Charlie illustrate the range of their abilities from Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) contenders Flightline and Hot Rod Charlie to Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) entrants Mo Stash and Curly Larry and Mo.
The Classic's 3-5 morning-line favorite, Flightline, is the highest-profile of the group. He's an undefeated 4-year-old son of Tapit out of the Indian Charlie grade 3 winner Feathered. Flightline was bred by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm and is raced by partners Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing with trainer John Sadler.
"All these horses get their brilliance from Indian Charlie," said Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who conditioned Indian Charlie for his owner/breeder Hal Earnhardt III. "I see a lot of him in Flightline. You can see Indian Charlie in his frame."
Bret Jones with Airdrie Stud, which stood Indian Charlie from 2003 through 2011, said the resemblance between the two horses is undeniable.
"Every time I see a picture of Flightline, I see a lot of Indian Charlie in that conformation with that long, stretchy, beautifully bodied horse with that nice head and neck. He sure reminds me of his grandfather," he said.
Indian Charlie is also represented in the Classic by Hot Rod Charlie, by Oxbow out of the Indian Charlie daughter Indian Miss. Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) contender Golden Pal , a two-time Breeders' Cup winner and morning-line favorite for this year's race, is a son of champion Uncle Mo, who is by Indian Charlie. In the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), we find Awake at Midnyte, a daughter of 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Nyquist , a son of Indian Charlie. The Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) features Bye Bye Melvin, a son of Uncle Mo, while the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) has Slow Down Andy, a son of Nyquist. A daughter of Uncle Mo, Family Way, represents in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T), while the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) features Frank's Rockette, by Into Mischief out of the Indian Charlie grade 3 winner Rocket Twentyone.
On the Friday card, FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) contender Hurricane J is a son of Nyquist. A NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) trio is also featured: American Rockette, by American Pharoah out of Rocket Twentyone; Leave No Trace, by grade 1 winner Outwork, a son of Uncle Mo; and You're My Girl, by Overanalyze out of the Indian Charlie daughter Peace Queen. The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) has Xigera, a daughter of Nyquist, and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) features Mo Stash and Curly Larry and Mo, both by grade 1 winner Mo Town , a son of Uncle Mo.
Indian Charlie has single-handedly revived the Caro sire line that is a branch from Nasrullah through English classic-placed stakes winner Grey Sovereign. The path to this revival began with Soviet Sojourn, a daughter of Leo Castelli that Earnhardt bought as a yearling for $14,000 at the 1990 Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association Fall Sale from Double D Thoroughbred Farms.
Earnhardt sent the filly to Baffert after she placed third in her debut. Baffert won his first start with her at Hollywood Park, and two starts later won the Junior Miss Stakes (G3) and Sorrento Stakes (G3) at Del Mar. She went on to be runner-up in the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G2) and Oak Leaf Stakes (G2) and third in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1).
"I was just starting out and Soviet Sojourn was probably my first good Thoroughbred," Baffert said. "She had some issues and originally Soviet Sojourn was sent to Kentucky to be bred, but there was another really fast horse at the time who was going to stand in California named In Excess."
In Excess was a son of Siberian Express that won four consecutive grade 1 stakes in 1991—the Woodward Stakes (G1), Whitney Handicap (G1), Suburban Handicap (G1), and Metropolitan Handicap (G1). The colt set a 10-furlong Belmont Park track record of 1:58.33 in the Suburban and was retired with $1,736,733 in earnings.
Owner Mike Pegram, a friend and client of Baffert's, arranged to have In Excess stand at the late Frank "Scoop" Vessels III's farm in Bonsall, Calif. Earnhardt had bred Soviet Sojourn twice to Kentucky stallions when Baffert urged him to keep the mare in California and breed her to In Excess in 1994, his second year at stud.
"We got Indian Charlie, who was the most beautiful yearling, and In Excess came out firing," said Baffert. "Everything we bred could really run and we were cleaning up in the Cal-bred races."
After Indian Charlie won his first three races for Earnhardt and John R. Gaines Racing by a combined 23 1/2 lengths, he captured the 1998 Santa Anita Derby (G1) by 2 1/4 lengths over eventual Kentucky Derby winner Real Quiet. His time of 1:47 was the fastest running of the race since Sham equaled this time in 1973. Indian Charlie started as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby and finished a good third behind Real Quiet and Victory Gallop (who would deny Real Quiet the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes (G1) that year). Baffert gave Indian Charlie some time off and was aiming for a return in Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1), but a suspensory injury forced the colt's retirement from racing.
Indian Charlie entered stud at Vinery in Central Kentucky for a $10,000 fee. As a freshman sire in 2002, he ranked in the top 10 by progeny earnings and was represented by one stakes winner. As a second-crop sire, he stayed in the top 10 by earnings but still needed that breakout runner.
In 2002, Indian Charlie shareholders Olin Gentry and Tom Van Meter announced the stallion was being relocated to Airdrie Stud.
"His rank on the freshman sires list would not have gotten anyone's attention," Jones recalled. "He started at $10,000 because he didn't have a Kentucky pedigree but it was his brilliance that carried the day. Also at the time, people were more patient with young sires, and a number of breeders, like us and Tom Van Meter, kept believing in the horse, and he went from strength to strength. He was one of those that as the books improved, his runners got better. To now see this lasting legacy is really pretty wonderful."
Indian Charlie sired his first champion in 2006 with Fleet Indian, who won five graded stakes that year (two in grade 1s) and was named champion older mare. The following year, Indian Blessing (bred by Earnhardt and trained by Baffert) was named champion 2-year-old filly and then in 2008 earned honors as champion female sprinter. For his career, Indian Charlie sired 83 black-type winners (8% from named foals of racing age) that included 29 graded/group winners and eight champions. His stud fee would climb to $75,000 by 2009 and his sales yearling average to more than $136,000.
As a broodmare sire, he's been represented by 15 stakes-producing daughters whose progeny have earned more than $31 million. From all his daughters, he has been represented by 93 black-type winners that include 31 graded/group winners and six champions. Hot Rod Charlie, as of Nov. 1, is Indian Charlie's leading earner as a broodmare sire with $5,556,720 in lifetime earnings.
Indian Charlie would die too soon at 16. He was euthanized Dec. 15, 2011, after losing a battle with cancer.
"When we lost 'Charlie' we had been collecting as many Indian Charlie mares that we could. In hindsight, not enough of them," said Jones. "From a broodmare sire standpoint, there is a great history of brilliance holding up on that end. While some look for a broodmare sire to be beautifully bred—and nobody would argue against that—I really love seeing a broodmare sire that was a brilliant racehorse. I think Indian Charlie and Unbridled's Song fit that description, and years before that Secretariat made a huge impact through his daughters.
"Indian Charlie is a horse that deserves to be remembered and through his daughters and granddaughters, sons and grandsons, he'll be remembered for generations," he said.
