Michael Hawkes has found it difficult to contain his enthusiasm for Chuchichaschtli for nearly six months, but he had no reason to hold back after the filly secured a stakes win at only her second career start.
The Exceedance filly, whose name is a Swiss-German word for kitchen cupboard, showcased her natural ability with an impressive 1-3/4 length triumph over Omolong in Saturday’s Listed Tapp-Craig (1400m) at Rosehill.
The $3 favourite, who made her debut last month with a decisive midweek win at Warwick Farm, had been earmarked for a race start by Hawkes for some time.
“Probably the better part of six months I’ve known she’s been something,” Michael Hawkes stated.
“She’s pretty special. There’s not a lot of her, but she’s all heart, and she’s a racehorse.”
Chuchichaschtli is campaigned by long-standing Hawkes Racing patrons, pilot Captain Gary Lui, and George Doyle, and the trainer expressed his delight in being able to reward them.
The horse’s name was conceived by Lui’s wife, and the trainer acknowledged the effort involved in mastering its pronunciation.
“It’s a bit of a tongue twister isn’t it? I call her ‘Koo-kar-kashli’, ‘Hoo-ha-ha-shli’. However you want to call it, doesn’t matter, she’s a winner,” Hawkes commented.
Hawkes intends to monitor the filly’s recovery from Saturday’s race before determining her next move, with the Callander-Presnell (1600m) at Randwick in two weeks a potential target.
“We’ll see how she pulls up,” he said.
“We were chasing stakes grade and this race presented. Her win at Warwick Farm was outstanding. She ran amazing time.
“All you’ve got to do is win and she’s won well, but the part I loved is the further she went through the line, the more she ran through it and the better she was.”
Tyler Schiller, who has now secured three of the five runnings of the Tapp-Craig, guided Chuchichaschtli to victory. His prior wins in the event were aboard Opal Ridge (2022) and Makarena (2023), also trained by Hawkes Racing.
For those interested in the upcoming races, you can find competitive racing odds at some of the leading Australian betting sites.
