Chilitodayhotamale Triumps In $50,000 Helen Smith Final at Freehold

Freehold, NJ - - Chilitodayhotamale, with George Brennan in the sulky, took advantage of the misfortune of several of her competitors and registered a wire-to-wire win in the $50,000 final of the Helen Smith for three-year-old trotting fillies at Freehold Raceway on Friday.

Chilitodayhotamale left the gate alertly to get the lead at the start and was the beneficiary of an early break by the odds-on favorite, Aunt Mel (Brent Holland), who went offstride on the first turn. Also making a break on the first turn was Shanty Irish (Jim Pantaleano).

Brennan guided Chilitodayhotamale through fractions of  28.3, 58.3, 1:27.4 for three panels and turned for home with a  three and one-half length lead over Riverfest (David Miller) who had been getting a pocket trip from the outset of the race. As the field straightened out for the final stretch, Riverfest went offstride, leaving Chilitodayhotamale with an insurmountable lead. The daughter of Muscles Yankee then coasted to the wire 16 lengths in front and stopped the timer in a stakes record tying 1:56.3 for the mile.

Chocolatta De Vie (Cat Manzi) finished second and Champagne Magic (Steve Smith) was third, nineteen and one-quarter lengths behind the winner.

Chilitodayhotamale, who is owned by Michael Andrew and trained by Trond Smedshammer, notched her fourth win of the season in taking the Helen Smith final.

Chilitodayhotamale earned $25,000 for her victory, increasing her lifetime earnings to $180,811 and paid $9.20 as the third choice in the wagering.