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Michael Graham

Michael Graham

Tilly's Chilli burns off the opposition

Sat 22nd Apr 2017, 16:51

Tilly's Chilli, right, delivers the knockout blowTilly's Chilli, right, delivers the knockout blow
© Photo Healy Racing

Tilly's Chilli powered home for Colm O'Donoghue for a last-gasp victory in the extended mile and three handicap in Limerick for horses rated 45-75.

She made relentless headway in the final furlong to tackle Epitaph (8/1) close home and get up by a head to justify 4/1 favouritism.

There was a length and a quarter gap back to third-placed Freedom Chimes (12/1).

Trainer Jessica Harrington said: "It's lovely for her to win and she had a nice run at Leopardstown. She was carrying enough weight today for a little filly but Colm was always going to get there.

"She'll get there and will win another handicap like that - she needs to go up to 1m4f and maybe run her in a better class race with a low weight."

Colm O'Donoghue added: "To be fair she would have been unlucky. I had to run through to follow Ana (O'Brien, on Inescapable but I didn't have the pace to follow her through so I had to come around them. She stuck at it well.

"She's only a light-framed filly carrying 9st6 (in Leopardstown)/9st 9 (today). It's a long way up that straight so I just wanted to have a lead for as long as I could and we didn't go over mad. She stays well and is very genuine and did well on that surface."

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes

About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.