TALENTED mare Boxofchocolates has continued the sweet start to her racing career by peeling off a fourth-straight win at Maryborough on Monday.
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Trained at Junortoun by Kent Harpley and owned and bred by Loddon Valley Stud's John Campbell, Boxofchocolates again raised the bar with an 8.4m victory over 1690m.
Champion reinsman Chris Alford was able to find the lead on the ferocious five-year-old despite plenty of early pressure and together they were able to assert their authority in the home straight to sprint clear of Matts Delight, with Illawong Mustang, driven by Shannon O'Sullivan, sticking on for third.
Another convincing win added to those earlier in her career, starting with an emphatic 35.4m win at Bendigo's Lord's Raceway on debut in late June.
Owner Campbell could not have been happier with the performance of the mare at her first start in six weeks.
"It was good to see her do it against what was probably a better group of horses," he said.
"Chris Alford is very happy with the way she is going.
"She didn't rush around, her first quarter was slower than her previous first quarters, but I know Chris wasn't too worried.
"(Four in a row) is nice - it doesn't happen all that often."
The chase for five in a row is likely to lead Boxofchocolates to Lord's Raceway in a fortnight' time.
"Fourteen days spacing is about her normal time in between races, Kent (Harpley) says that's what seems to suit her best," Campbell said.
"There's no real longer-term plan, other than we'd love five in a row. Then we'll have a bit of a chat about whether she needs a break in the paddock while the spring feed is so good.
"So there's nothing definite."
Campbell was quick to address the inevitable possibility of the mare targeting a first metropolitan class win.
"Chris Alford said after her third win that there's no need to rush into anything, she still has to learn how to race in a field," he said.
"He said she could go into an M0 and if she drew well and led she could win one, but he's advising patience.
"That's good enough for me."
A fourth win for Boxofchocolates gave Harpley his seventh training win of the extended 2019-20 season.
Read more: Sweet mare's debut is 'one out of the box'
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