It was a sweet victory for Ed Allred’s Chocolatito in the sixth race on Friday night at Los Alamitos, as the son of Favorite Cartel posted the meet’s fastest 330-yard time of :16.585 while making his first start since October 21, 2018.
Ridden by Vinnie Bednar for trainer Scott Willoughby, Chocolatito was magisterial in victory, as he established a half-length advantage early on before crossing the wire two lengths ahead of his closest pursuer, Mario Tellez Montiel and Susuna Quintanar’s Miss Montielita. Racing as a gelding for the first time, Chocolatito bettered the previous season mark of :16.594 set by Scoopie Jess on March 3. Bred by Dr. Steve Burns, Chocolatito has now won two of four career starts.
When Pappyscoronalilbro set the 330-yard record of :16.259 in 2010, his final 1/8th fractional time was :09.29. Chocolatito won tonight’s sixth race with a final 1/8th clocking :09.35, which shows that he was moving during the second half of the race.
“He looks like a runner” Willoughby said. “He had some bad luck as a 2-year-old and we had to back off and take care of him. He’s looking good so far (in 2019).”
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