Into Chocolate Gets Up in Chillingworth
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Into Chocolate (outside) wins the Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita Park
Pam and Marty Wygod's Into Chocolate rallied past the favorites and got up to steal the victory in the $100,000 Chillingworth Stakes (G3) Sept. 25 at Santa Anita Park.
The 4-year-old Into Mischief daughter earned her first stakes win in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint for fillies and mares.
While Into Chocolate broke sharp and found herself between 3-5 Qahira and 2-1 Amuse, jockey Umberto Rispoli settled the 8-1 shot and dropped Into Chocolate back to third. Qahira led the way with Amuse close on the outside through fractions of :22.18 and :44.94 for the first half-mile. Into Chocolate was 1 1/2 lengths back from Amuse on the rail. The other two fillies, Hang a Star and Mucho Amor, nearly drew even with Into Chocolate as the field neared the turn for home.
Having dropped back from the pacesetters, Into Chocolate had ground to make up. With Hang a Star to her outside at the top of the stretch, Rispoli took advantage of a hole that opened up behind Amuse and darted through. Qahira held over Amuse as the two approached the wire, but Into Chocolate had enough momentum to roll past the frontrunning pair late and reach the wire three-quarters of a length in front.
The final time on the fast track was 1:15.86.
Qahira was second, a neck over Amuse, followed by Hang a Star and Mucho Amor.
Outside two starts on the East Coast this year, Clifford Sise Jr. has trained Into Chocolate since her debut in April 2019. The Chillingworth was the filly's second start back with Sise after finishing seventh in the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3) Aug. 21 at Del Mar.
"We threw her last race at Del Mar out. She came out of that race body sore and then her blood count was off," Sise said. "She's been feeling really good here since we got back, and I could tell saddling her today that she was doing good and she was ready. Those were some nice fillies, and it's always good to win."
"I didn't know much about her, but Mr. Sise said she was doing really good and she should run a lot better than she did at Del Mar," Rispoli said. "It looked like they were going pretty fast in front, and my filly was very professional."
Bred in Kentucky by the Wygods, Into Chocolate is the second foal out of the Candy Ride mare Candy Drawer, and her 3-year-old full sister Secret Keeper was second in the Torrey Pines Stakes (G3) a month ago. Candy Drawer has also produced a yearling colt by Union Rags and a Quality Road filly born in March. She was reported bred this year to Liam's Map .
Into Chocolate, who first earned black type when third in the Torrey Pines a year ago, has compiled a 4-2-2 record from 11 starts and has earned $216,031.