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Chocolats was heading straight into the jaws of defeat when Wolf Power pounced on him in the home straight, but trainer Shane Baertschiger’s galloper toughed it out to fight his way back to victory on Friday night.
Jockey Matthew Kellady taking the foot off the pedal as Yulong Honor (Krisna Thangamani) came around to eyeball Chocolats down the back was probably the winning move.
After a quick getaway, the Fastnet Rock six-year-old pressed forward to dictate terms in the $75,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1700m, but handed up the lead when Yulong Honor came upsides midway through proceedings.
Sent out at lukewarm odds of $88, Chocolats was then able to conserve some energy, which would come in handy in the concluding stages when favourite Wolf Power (Michael Rodd) came testing him - and even headed him at the 300m.
As Kellady pulled the whip with renewed vigour, Chocolats responded with a second wind to stick his head back in front.
Wolf Power tried hard but had to settle for a second consecutive runner-up cheque with Majestic Empress (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin) third another 2 ¾ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 45.97secs for the 1700m on the Polytrack.
"It's two from two on the Poly, we'll stick to that surface for him," said Baertschiger.
"I told Matty to jump good and try and settle in the first four. When the other horse came around, Matty did the right thing to let him go.
"He kept kicking up in the straight for a strong win tonight."
Chocolats has now brought his record to two wins and seven placings from 15 starts for stakes earnings in excess of $160,000 for the More Stable.
Even though Kellady let in that Chocolats was not his favourite horse at Baertschiger's yard, he still seems to have the key to unlocking his potential. The Ipoh-born jockey was not aboard at Chocolats' other Polytrack win in Class 4 company on April 19, when ridden by apprentice jockey Riduan Abu Bakar.
"He's not the easiest horse to ride. I actually hate him," said Kellady, only in half jest.
"You don't see him too often at the tracks. He gallops on Track 6 and canters on Track 4 as he's such a hard-going horse."
From Kellady's total haul of nine winners this year, Chocolats is the sixth winner he has ridden for Baertschiger.
"I'm really appreciative of what Shane Baertschiger has done to me. He's made me the man I am today," said Kellady, who has been a loyal stalwart of the Australian handler and his father Don for many years.
