Now 19 SWs for Distorted Humor in ’11

Al Muhtasib scored a 3 1/4-length, gate to wire victory in the $75,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial H. Dec. 26 to give Distorted Humor his 19th stakes winner of 2011, best among all North American sires. The WinStar stallion also leads the way with $10.3 million in progeny earnings.

Al Muhtasib set the tone right out of the gate in the 1 1/16-mile Diliberto, leading by a length after a quarter mile in a relatively easy :24.42. With jockey Rosie Napravnik controlling rating the 4-year-old colt, the margin remained much the same until straightening for home, when her mount began to draw away from the field. The final time for the race, which was originally scheduled for the turf, on the sloppy track was a good 1:43.63.

“He jumped out of the gate sharp today and he just relaxed and had plenty left for the lane,” Napravnik said. “I had a ton of horse the whole way. He was tugging on me waiting for me to tell him to go.”

Al Muhtasib is now 6-1-3 in 15 with earnings of $250,738 for his owner William Butler. The bay colt was bred in Kentucky by R. S. Evans.

Out of A. P. Interest, Al Muhtasib is a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Golden Spikes. A. P. Interest’s siblings include Cash Run, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), and Forestry, winner of the Grade 1 Kings Bishop S.