Country House

By Alan Porter

A Kentucky Derby-winning grandson of Smart Strike, Country House is by Lookin At Lucky–a Classic winner who is the only colt since Spectacular Bid to be both Champion at two and three–out of a multiple graded-producing half-sister to a Classic winner. 

The Deputy Minister line has been good under Smart Smart and has also combined well with the wonderful family of the mare, No Class, who is duplicated in the pedigree of Country House. Lookin At Lucky is no exception, and in addition to a stakes winner out of a mare by Deputy Minister himself, has sired Champion Older Horse Accelerate out of a mare by Awesome Again (sire of Ghostzapper, Toccet, Daaher and Awesome of Course). Deputy Minister might also be brought in through Silver Deputy (sire of Posse, Spring At Last and Badge of Silver and grandsire of Kodiak Kowboy), Touch Gold, Deputy Commander, Salt Lake, Forest Camp and French Deputy. Mares by Ministers Wild Cat would give inbreeding to the excellent mare, Hollywood Wildcat. 

Lookin At Lucky also has Chilean Champion and U.S. grade one performer Wow Cat out of a mare by Storm Cat son, Cat Thief. He has two grade one winners out of mares by Scat Daddy (by Johannesburg, a son of Hennessy, also the sire of Henny Hughes), two stakes winners, one graded out of mares by Giant’s Causeway (sire of First Samurai, Eskendereya and Creative Cause) and a stakes winner out of a mare by Pure Prize. In addition, we can note Smart Strike line stakes winners out of mares by Harlan’s Holiday (who should fit very well here, being a Northern Dancer/Exclusive Native cross, like Lookin At Lucky’s broodmare sire, Belong to Me, and who is sire of Into Mischief, Majesticperfection and Shanghai Bobby), Stormin Fever, Stormy Atlantic, Tribal Rule and Mountain Cat as well as Tale of The Cat, Sea of Secrets and Storm Creek–who as Northern Dancer/Mr. Prospector crosses all appeal here. Bernstein is another Storm Cat who is a Northern Dancer/Exclusive Native cross, and mares by Forest Wildcat (sire of Wildcat Heir) should also work well.

The three-quarters brothers Nureyev and Sadler’s Wells have both enjoyed success under Lookin At Lucky. From the Nureyev line, there is a U.S. Classic winner out of a mare by Royal Anthem, and a Champion out of a mare by that horse’s sire, Theatrical, and a stakes winner out of a mare by Great Commotion. Lookin At Lucky has also sired grade two winner Dr. Dorr out of a mare by Nureyev son, Unusual Heat, and Smart Strike and sons have also done well with mares by Stravinsky. 

The cross of Smart Strike with Sadler’s Wells line mares has been extremely successful, including ten stakes winners, one grade one, out of a mare by Powerscourt, and stakes winners Smart Strike line from daughters of El Prado (sire of Medaglia d’Oro, Kitten’s Joy and Artie Schiller) and Horse Chestnut.

Even though he is a Mr. Prospector line stallion himself, Lookin At Lucky has done well crossed back over Mr. Prospector line mares, getting nine stakes winners He has a grade one winner out of a mare by Fusaichi Pegasus, who is a parallel Mr. Prospector/Danzig cross to Lookin At Lucky and is sire of Roman Ruler. This suggests trying mares by the similarly-bred Distorted Humor, who is sire of Any Given Saturday, Cowtown Cat, Drosselmeyer, Flower Alley, Jimmy Creed and Sharp Humor.

Lookin At Lucky is the sire of a trio of stakes winners, one grade one out of a mares from the Gone West branch of Mr. Prospector. This includes a stakes winner out of a mare by Whywhywhy, a son of Mr. Greeley (also sire of El Corredor, who could be very interesting here). From the Gone West line we might also consider daughters of Elusive Quality, who is a parallel Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer cross to Country House, and who gives linebreeding to the elite mare, Glowing Tribute, and who is sire of Quality Road; of Speightstown, another Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer cross; Grand Slam, again a Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer cross; and Proud Citizen. 

Looking At Lucky has a stakes winner out of a mare by Carson City, who could be brought in through City Zip, Five Star Day, Cuvee, Lord Carson and Pollard’s Vision.

There is also a stakes winner by Looking At Lucky out of a mare by Seeking the Gold. It’s notable that the dam of this stakes winner is a parallel Mr. Prospector/Danzig cross to Lookin At Lucky, but Seeking the Gold could be brought in through Mutakddim, Petionville and Cape Town.

Smart Strike line stallions have outperformed opportunity with Unbridled line mares, particularly through Unbridled’s Song, the broodmare sire of Lookin At Lucky graded stakes winner Money Multiplier, and also the sire of Songandaprayer (whose broodmare sire is a three-quarters brother to the dam of Belong to Me, the broodmare sire of Lookin At Lucky), First Defence, Half Ours, Old Fashioned, Rockport Harbor, Even the Score, Mission Impazible, Value Plus (broodmare sire of a Smart Strike stakes winner) and Zensational. Another source of Unbridled would be Broken Vow, whose dam is a sister to Winged Victory, the broodmare sire of a Lookin At Lucky graded stakes winner. Another from the Fappiano line who would work well here is Midnight Lute, whose grandsire, Quiet American, is broodmare sire of a Lookin At Lucky stakes winner.

Lookin At Lucky is sire of millionaire Madefromlucky out of a Pulpit mare who is a sister to Tapit (sire of Tapizar, Tapiture, Trappe Shot and Constitution). Pulpit might also be attractive through Sky Mesa. There is also a graded winner by Lookin At Lucky out of a mare by Mineshaft (sire of Discreetly Mine and Dialed In). Pulpit and Mineshaft are sons of A.P. Indy, and Malibu Moon, Flatter and Congrats are bred on the same cross as that pair. A.P. Indy is by Seattle Slew, and there is a stakes winner by Lookin At Lucky out of a mare by Boston Harbor, who is by Seattle Slew son, Capote, also sire of Matty G.

There is a Lookin At Lucky stakes winner out of a mare by Rahy, a son of Blushing Groom, which would invite introducing Blushing Groom through Mt. Livermore (sire of Orientate and Peaks and Valleys) and Runaway Groom (sire of Cherokee Run and Kafwain). There is also a grade one winner by a son of Smart Strike out of a mare by Holy Bull (sire of Macho Uno and Flashy American).