Chocolate Ride to Try Colonel E. R. Bradley

After closing out the 2015 Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots meet with a pair of graded stakes wins on the turf, Chocolate Ride will try for a third graded victory on the grass in less than 12 months Jan. 16 in the $125,000 Colonel E. R. Bradley Handicap (gr. IIIT).

Wentworth Brochu's Chocolate Ride prepped for the Bradley, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 4-year-olds and older, with a three-length waltz to victory in a Nov. 27 allowance at the same distance on the Fair Grounds turf. Jockey Florent Geroux geared down the Candy Ride   gelding in the stretch that day.

NOVAK: Streaking Chocolate Ride Wires Mervin Muniz

Bred in Kentucky by Brian Kahn, Chocolate Ride, a gelding out of the Old Trieste mare Heatherdoesntbluff, will make his 6-year-old debut in the Bradley.

The race also features last year's winner, Louisiana-bred String King, who will try for his 14th stakes win overall and seventh on the Fair Grounds turf. The son of Crowned King scored a clear victory in last year's Bradley, beginning a season in which he registered four wins and two seconds in six starts, all stakes.

NOVAK: String King Game in Col. Bradley Victory

Now 8-years-old, this will mark the fourth straight year the Charlie Smith homebred String King has started his season in the Bradley. He finished second in the race in 2013 and fourth in 2014 before last year's victory.