Chocolate Martini went from claimer to graded stakes winner with a 13-1 upset in the Fair Grounds Oaks, earning a spot in the gate for the May 4 GI Kentucky Oaks in the process. Drawn widest of all in post nine, the bay was away in good order and was reserved in second last by jockey Mitchell Murrill as even-money favorite Classy Act (Into Mischief) showed the way through opening splits of :23.39 and :46.28. Chocolate Martini was three-wide and still several lengths off Classy Act as the chalk turned for home with a comfortable lead, but the favorite began to falter in mid-stretch, lugging out a bit as Chocolate Martini came up on her outside and a pair of rivals engaged her from the rail. Narrowly avoiding being bumped by Classy Act as she seized control from the pacesetter in the final sixteenth, Chocolate Martini held off a late-charging Eskimo Kisses to score a narrow victory.
“She came to me in great shape,” said winning trainer Tom Amoss, who also finished a closed second in the GII Louisiana Derby with Lone Sailor (Majestic Warrior). “We really didn't anything different than the other guys had done with her. We just caught her coming into her maturity level just right and we were lucky in that regard. It paid off today.”
The conditioner added, “I don't think you can keep these owners away from the Oaks. They are going to the Kentucky Oaks as long as she is healthy.”
Purchased by Carl R. Moore Management for $65,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September sale, Chocolate Martini finished last of 12 when unveiled at Churchill Downs in September and only beat one home when 11th next out on the turf there Nov. 11 for previous trainer Bret Calhoun. Dropped in for $30,000 in a sloppy main track test in NOLA in December, she finished a well-beaten third, but graduated by 6 1/4 lengths next out going a mile over this strip Jan. 12. Returned to the turf in a 7 1/2-furlong claimer at the Fair Grounds Feb. 2, Chocolate Martini came on late to be fourth and was claimed by Double Doors Racing and Tom Amoss for $30,000. Amoss put the filly back on the main track going an extended mile here Feb. 18 and she won by a neck in her first start for her new connections.
Pedigree Notes:
Chocolate Martini is the 25th graded stakes winner for her sire Broken Vow. A half-sister to SW Nicky's Brown Miss, she is the latest foal out of MSP Nicksappealinglady, who was most recently bred to Tapizar. The winner traces her lineage back to MGISW turfer Ladies Din (Din's Dancer).
TWINSPIRES.COM FAIR GROUNDS OAKS-GII, $392,000, FG, 3-24, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.44, ft.
1–CHOCOLATE MARTINI, 122, f, 3, by Broken Vow
1st Dam: Nicksappealinglady (MSP, $158,728), by Successful Appeal
2nd Dam: That's My Double, by Darn That Alarm
3rd Dam: Ladies Double, by Kris S.
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($65,000 Ylg
'16 KEESEP). O-Double Doors Racing, LLC; B-Savino A. Capilupi
(KY); T-Thomas M. Amoss; J-Mitchell Murrill. $240,000.
Lifetime Record: 7-3-0-1, $278,636. *1/2 to Nicky's Brown Miss
(Big Brown), SW & MSP, $191,395. Werk Nick Rating: D+. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”hidden-brook-foaled”][bullet ad=”millennium-farm-raised”][bullet ad=”buckland-sales-grad”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Eskimo Kisses, 122, f, 3, To Honor and Serve–Silver Colors, by
Mr. Greeley. O-Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek), Gainesway
Stable & Harold Lerner; B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY);
T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $80,000.[bullet ad=”gainesway-bred”]3–Wonder Gadot, 122, f, 3, Medaglia d'Oro&log=">Medagliad'Oro–Loving Vindication,
by Vindication. ($80,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP; $325,000 2yo '17
OBSAPR). 'TDN Rising Star' O-Gary Barber; B-Anderson Farms
Ont. Inc. (ON); T-Mark E. Casse. $40,000.[bullet ad=”brookdale-prepped-and-sold”][bullet ad=”anderson-farms-bred-raised-sold”][bullet ad=”ontario-bred”]Margins: HD, 3/4, HF. Odds: 13.90, 4.30, 1.80.
Also Ran: Classy Act, She's a Julie, Saguaro Row, America's Tale. Scratched: Testing One Two, Patrona Margarita. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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