Chitu

PEDIGREE ANALYSISby Alan Porter

Undefeated at two, and among the best of his crop at three, the versatile Chitu was stakes winner and grade one placed sprinting, and was able to carry his speed to win the Sunland Derby (gr. III) at nine furlongs. The best son of the brilliant two-year-old and sprinter, Henny Hughes – also sire of the spectacular champion Beholder – Chitu is out of an A.P. Indy mare from a powerful international family that goes back to Round Table’s stakes winning sister, Monarchy, also ancestress of Pulpit, Tale of the Cat and Johannesburg.

Most unusually for a speedy and precocious stallion prospect in the modern era, Chitu is free of the influence of Mr. Prospector. Chitu’s sire, Henny Hughes, enjoyed considerable success with Mr. Prospector line mares, as did his sire Hennessy, and Hennessy’s son, Johannesburg, who is also from the same family as Chitu. We’ll note a particularly strong affinity with Unbridled’s Song, the broodmare sire of three Henny Hughes stakes winners, one graded, and there is also a stakes winner by Henny Hughes out of a mare by Unbridled. It is also possible to introduce Unbridled through Grindstone (sire of Birdstone), Broken Vow (who looks a strong choice), Empire Maker, Red Bullet, Untuttable and Spanish Steps. Unbridled’s Song is is available through Songandaprayer, Buddha, Dunkirk, Eurosilver, First Defence, Half Ours, Even the Score, Old Fashioned, Rockport Harbor, Werblin and Zensational. Unbridled is a son of Fappiano, and there are also Hennessy line stakes winners out of mares by Fappiano line stallions Pentelicus (a three-quarters brother to Unbridled), Roy, and Victory Gallop and his sire, Cryptoclearance (also the grandsire of Candy Ride, who appeals here). It might also be possible to introduce Fappiano through Rubiano, sire of Burning Roma and Too Much Bling, and Quiet American, grandsire of Midnight Lute.

Looking at other branches of Mr. Prospector, Henny Hughes has a duo of stakes winners out of mares by sons of Forty Niner – from daughters of Ecton Park and Roar – and there are Hennessy line stakes winners out of mares descending from Forty Niner via Coronado’s Quest, End Sweep (sire of Trippi) and Jules (sire of Peace Rules). There are many other sources of Forty Niner, including Distorted Humor and sons, Tactical Advantage, Banker’s Gold, Gold Fever, Gold Case, Twining and West Acre.

Other branches of Mr. Prospector to produce graded stakes winners for Henny Hughes are Allen’s Prospect and Marquetry (sire of Artax). We can also note stakes winners for Henny Hughes of out mares by Mr. Prospector line stallions Crafty Prospector (sire of Prospect Bay, Prospectors Gamble and Robyn Dancer), Petionville (by Seeking the Gold, also sire of Mutakddim and Cape Town), Smart Strike (sire of Curlin, Lookin At Lucky and English Channel), Chester House and Distant View.

There is a Hennessy line grade one winner out of a mare by Elusive Quality (represented in Florida by Exclusive Quality and Omega Code), and a graded scorer out of a mare by Grand Slam, both from Gone West branch of Mr. Prospector, and there is also a stakes winner out of a mare by Double Honor, from the same sire line. Other Gone West options include Speightstown (who gives a well-placed Storm Cat double), Mr. Greeley, Proud Citizen, Dance Master and Zamindar (who is interesting as he is out of a mare by The Minstrel, a close relative to Storm Bird and Nijinsky II, who are both in Chitu’s pedigree). Both Johannesburg and Hennessy have graded winners out of mares by Carson City, a broodmare sire line that is available through City Zip, Cuvee, Five Star Day, Hear No Evil, Lord Carson, Good and Tough, Pollard’s Vision and Flying Chevron. There are also graded stakes winners by Hennessy line stallions out of mares by Lemon Drop Kid (giving inbreeding to the family of A.P. Indy), Woodman and Thunder Gulch (who is interesting, giving a well-placed double of Storm Bird) and his sire, Gulch. We’ll also note Hennessy line stakes winners out of mares by the Mr. Prospector line stallions Miswaki and Two Punch (sire of Smoke Glacken).

Chitu is a Northern Dancer line stallion, but that strain will not appear until the sixth dam of his offspring, so the way is clear to cross him back over branch of that line. The Deputy Minister branch is one that has enjoyed particular success under Hennessy. This includes a graded stakes winner by Henny Hughes out of a mare by Awesome Again – one of four stakes winners by Hennessy line stallions out mares by this horse – and there is also a Hennessy line stakes winner out of a mare by Ghostzapper, a son of Awesome Again. This would also suggest considering mares by Awesome of Course, Daaher and Toccet. There is a grade one winner by Johannesburg out of a mare by Silver Deputy (sire of Posse, Spring At Last and Badge of Silver) and a stakes winner out of a mare by Dehere (sire of Graeme Hall).

Henny Hughes has a stakes winner out of a mare by a son of Danehill from the Danzig branch of Northern Dancer, and the cross of Hennessy over Danzig line mares has been a productive one, particularly through Chitu’s relative, Johannesburg. Successful sources of Danzig here include Belong to Me, Langfuhr and Boundary (sire of Big Brown and Pomeroy). There are numerous other Danzig sources that could be tried with Chitu, including Chief’s Crown (sire of Concerto; grandsire of Bellamy Road), Dayjur, Exchange Rate, Honor Grades (who gives inbreeding to Weekend Surprise, the dam of A.P. Indy), Lost Soldier, War Chant and Hard Spun and War Front.

Henny Hughes sired a stakes winner out of a mare by Singspiel, a grandson of Northern Dancer line stallion, Sadler’s Wells (whose three-quarters brother, Nureyev, is in the pedigree of Chitu). This cross has enjoyed other successes, including 2015 juvenile grade one winner Nickname, who is out of a mare by Borrego, a son of El Prado, and there is also a graded stakes winner by Johannesburg out of an El Prado mare, suggesting try daughters of Medaglia d’Oro, Kitten’s Joy or Artie Schiller.

Storm Bird, who is in the male-line of Chitu is bred on very similar lines to Nijinsky II, and there is a Johannesburg graded stakes winner out of a mare by Sword Dancer, who is bred on a similar Northern Dancer/Secretariat cross to Storm Cat.

Northern Dancer is a three-quarters relative to Icecapade, and Henny Hughes’s magnificent daughter Beholder is out of a mare by Tricky Creek, who is a son of the Icecapade horse, Clever Trick. Hennessy and sons crossed well with this line through Phone Trick, who can be found through Favorite Trick (broodmare sire of a Hennessy line stakes winner), Intidab, Mazel Trick and Zavata.

There appears to be an affinity between Hennessy – particularly via Johannesburg – and the Halo branch of the Hail to Reason. This is reflected by stakes winners out of mares by More Than Ready and his sire, Southern Halo; Saint Ballado (sire of Saint Liam, Captain Bodgit, Sweetsouthernsaint and Straight Man); Devil’s Bag (sire of Diablo and Devil His Due); and Halo’s Image.

Henny Hughes sired Champion Japanese Two-Year-Old Asia Express out of a mare by Running Stag, a son of Cozzene (also sire of Alphabet Soup), from the Caro line. From the same line, there is a Henny Hughes stakes winner out of a mare by Talkin Man, and two graded winners by Hennessy out of mares by that horse’s son, With Approval. There is also a stakes winner by a son of Hennessy out of a mare by Indian Charlie (by the Caro line stallion, In Excess, and himself sire of Bwana Charlie).

There is a stakes winner by Henny Hughes out of a mare by Valid Expectations, from the Valid Appeal branch of In Reality, and also represented by Valid Appeal and Successful Appeal. The Hennessy line also has a good strike-rate over mares by Honour and Glory (by Put It Back), from the Relaunch branch. The cross of Relaunch line stallion, Tiznow, over Hennessy mares has produced two stakes winners, one graded, and could be worth reversing.

Henny Hughes sired a trio of stakes winners out of Damascus line mares: millionaire Henny Hound is out of a mare by Crusader Sword; King Henny out of a mare by Afternoon Deelites, a son of the Private Account horse, Private Terms; and Private Account son, Personal Flag, is broodmare sire of Henny Hughes stakes winner Germaniac.

Montbrook son, Chapel Royal, sired a grade two winner out of a mare by Hennessy, and by Tale of the Cat – a stallion from the same male line and female line – is sire of Breeders’ Cup winner Stopchargingmaria out of a mare by Montbrook. Other sons of Montbrook include Outofthebox, Trust N Lucky and Snuck In.