Picks & musings for 032414 by harry watnik With 800,000 smackers beckoning from the finish line- you could be sure recuperating west coast superstar trainer B. Baffert would be at Sunland Park for its “Derby” with bells on- and so it came to pass that his Chitu, emerged a rich horse from the scrappy Sunland Derby, a race which is gaining in popularity with connections year by year. If I’m not in err Mine That Bird, who is soon to be a movie idol, raced in the Sunland Derby before Calvin Borel made like Paul Revere to guide the gelded Mine That Bird, to the highest pedestal in the racing world- The winners circle of the Kentucky Derby!- a look at Chitu, follows, and he is in the least a new player in the ever-changing “classic” picture of 2014- I liked Commissioner, who ran third, Midnight Hawk, who is evolving into a “sniffer” placed in the 9f test- a quick look at the WBH9GCF if the gentle reader will acquiesce to my wish, of the top 3 finishers’ may be of interest- Chitu > Blue Larkspur (10) + Mahmoud (6) + Princequillo (8) + War Admiral (6) = 30!! Midnight Hawk > Blue Larkspur (3) + Mahmoud (7) + Princequillo (7) + War Admiral (3) = 20 Commissioner > BL (7) + M (4) + PQ (4) + WA (6) = 21 The above chart is a general view of my concept of the 9 generation big hearted cross as it pertains to running horses- the “Big Heart” theory is a concept in which the “believer” clings to the notion that certain ancestors have the capacity to pass on the “big heart” see: Secretariat- this “big heart” allegedly allows for more air/blood to be pumped -which in turn enhances the creatures performance in a race- when I first read about this theory, it struck me as plausible; and the 4 progenitors whom I saw mentioned in the article were all familiar names to the pedigree student- Blue Larkspur > Mahmoud > Princequillo >War Admiral-- Anyhow, Commissioner, and the winner Chitu, share the same family 2-F -are they related? Not really, as Chitu, stems from the group which produced prodigious Round Table, once the all-time leading earner amongst thoroughbreds- while Commissioner ‘s pedigree diverged in tail female from Chitu’s in 1842 with the birth of a daughter to the great Industry, a filly by Hornsea, was named Stitch- while Chitu, looks back to the half-sister to Stitch, Barcelona (1848) by Don John- their common ancestress then is Industry, one of the all-time great female runners- bred and owned by Mr. Stanhope, Industry, won a controversial running of the English Oaks of 1838 and later scampered clear at Ascot and Goodwood & Wolverhampton & Burton-upon-Trent…… the line of mares out of Industry’s daughter Barcelona, have provided fans such treats as Gone West & Highclere and Aureole and of course the aforementioned Round Table- and many fans will recall ill-fated Go for Wand amongst the tribes many treasures- there is also a line trending back in turf time to Lady Evelyn (?) The broodmares sire array for Chitu, a son of speedy Henny Hughes, reads >AP Indy>Zilzal, Euro hoss of the year 1989 (?) and their champion 3yo (?) >Irish River, a son of Riverman>Nijinsky, last triple crown winner in England and a horse of immense value in the stud- the crucial 5th dam in this melodrama is Tsessebe (1970) and she was sired by Buckpasser, the latter a ”royal” if ever there was one- so I’d say things look promising for the chestnut colt, Chitu, winner of the 2014 Sunland Derby! The figures I can relate are dosage panoply >2-5-9-0-0 with a dosage index compiling to :2.56 the GSV value is noted as :58.07- the sire line is the Storm Cat armada of the Northern Dancer line of males and the ff are 2-F - a better than average group in my estimation- Princequillo sired Chitu’s 6th dam Monarchy, who I believe is (was) the full sister to Round Table, the latter is in the hall of fame- I think I would be on safe ground if I stated that family 2-f has never stepped in the Kentucky Derby winners circle- an it might be mentioned that the Spiral Stakes hero We Miss Artie, who won a real dogfight edition of that race, is a member of clan 3-J which has won a Kentucky Derby with Dust Commander (?) - conversely, Shackleford, a front runner of rare speed is a 2-F family hero and winner of the 2011 Preakness Stakes! ff 2-F traces back to the mare Treasure, of 1810 by Camillus, the latter was inbred to Matchem 3x4 - Matchem, founded the modern “M” line of males sort of- and that line reached its apex in 1920 when Man O’ War ruled the turf world! Will Rogers Downs 1-4 2-3 3-8 4-1 5-5 6-7 7-4 8-2 9-3 10-10 h.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:11:26 +0000
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