Chili Chocolate to keep her bite
Watching a race can often give one a far better indication of how the form line will hold up than just what you see on paper in a form book.
Fairview Polytrack. Picture: Supplied
Chili Chocolate’s last two wins fall into this category because although on form the four-year-old daughter of Muhtafal looks held by a number of runners those who watched her last two wins will bear testimony to the fact the wins were far easier than the form book might suggest.
She had one run on the Greyville Polytrack when still trained by Johan Janse van Vuuren and showed a fondness for the surface when finishing a 1.50-length third behind Enchanted Silk.
Chili Chocolate was then transferred to the Grant Paddock stable in Port Elizabeth and the logical choice was to put her back on the Polytrack.
She contested a FM 73 Handicap over 1900m with Andrew Fortune up and some might have considered it a somewhat arrogant ride as he lay not far behind the leaders and tracked the pacemakers. Fortune knew exactly how much he had underneath him and just punched Chili Chocolate into the lead close home to win by 0.50 lengths.
Since the filly carried a light weight in the Walmer Handicap (Non-Black Type) Fortune was unable to ride her but Donavan Mansour did very much the same in that race although he did have her placed closer to the leaders and let her go a lot earlier.
She beat Vaster by a length and got a three-point penalty for the win.
On paper both Varster and Bride’s Dowry should have the beating of her today in Race 2, a FM 84 Handicap over 1900m, but Chili Chocolate still looked to have something in hand and should still have their measure.
A bigger threat could come from Nonki Poo who had a decent debut on the course last time out when a fast-finishing neck second behind Supreme Sunset over 1600m. It is just a question of whether Renate du Plessis’ charge will appreciate the extra ground.
