Sunland Park: Chitu letting owner live her Kentucky Derby dream

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – Susan Chu first became interested in horses through riding, which she still does, as does her 11-year-old son, Jerry. But a trip to the 2010 Kentucky Derby helped pique her interest in Thoroughbred racing, and she got the support of her husband, Charles, to get involved as more than a spectator.

Chu now has just a handful of runners, but what success she’s had. Last year, she had one of the most promising and precocious 3-year-olds in Super Ninety Nine, who won the Southwest Stakes and then was third in the Santa Anita Derby before he went to the sidelines.

Super Ninety Nine is working regularly at Santa Anita and is nearing a return to action at age 4, but in the meantime, Chu has seen her Derby aspirations realized to an even greater degree this year. On Sunday, Chu, her husband, and her son were all here at Sunland Park to watch their 3-year-old colt Chitu win the Sunland Derby, earn a $400,000 payday, and haul in enough qualifying points to virtually guarantee him a spot in the Kentucky Derby on May 3. Chitu earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure for his Sunland Derby effort.

“This has been our goal. We love the horses so much,” Chu said. “I got interested a couple of years ago, when I went to the Kentucky Derby and saw Super Saver win. It was a totally different feeling than with show jumping.”

Chu, who races as Tanma Corp., purchased Chitu for $300,000 a year ago at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March sale of select 2-year-olds in training through bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, who does much of his work in concert with Chu’s trainer, Bob Baffert.

Chu said she chose Baffert after first doing research on Thoroughbred trainers, then flying out from her home in Boston for an in-person meeting.

“When I interviewed Bob, he was very professional,” said Chu, a native of Taiwan. “I thought since he’s in the Hall of Fame, he’d be different personally than he was. He was very kind, very gentle.”

Super Ninety Nine was from the first crop of runners Chu raced. Chitu is from the second crop. Both are trained by Baffert.

“I’m very happy, very appreciative of Bob Baffert,” she said. “I’ve only been involved a very few years.”

Chu said she named Chitu after “one of the best horses in China.”

“We translated the name from Chinese to English. It’s the same pronunciation,” she said.

Chitu’s victory Sunday was his third in four lifetime starts and proved he could handle 1 1/8 miles despite his blocky build and a pedigree that would suggest that shorter distances would be his preference. His lone loss came in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita, his first try around two turns, when he was second to Candy Boy, considered one of the elite contenders for both the Santa Anita Derby and the Kentucky Derby.

Both Chitu and Midnight Hawk, who ran second in the Sunland Derby for Baffert, were scheduled to return to Santa Anita.

Commissioner, who finished third, was not scheduled to leave here until Wednesday. If his connections are intent on making the Derby, he would have to make another start to try to glean more points.

The Sunland Derby and the Spiral Stakes, won Saturday by We Miss Artie, were the final races that offered 85 points overall, and 50 points to the winner, under the system used by Churchill Downs to determine the Derby field should more than 20 enter.

Starting this Saturday, with the Louisiana Derby and the Florida Derby, the point values for Derby preps reach their maximum, with 170 points per race, including 100 to the winner and 50 for second, so the scoreboard-watching will grow the most intense.