Racing: This Chocolate Fish not soft

Trainer Shane Brown is on track to land the chocolate fish with Chocolate Fish today at Riccarton. Photo / Race Images

Chocolate Fish are soft and squishy.

The equine carrying that name is neither.

He will prove that when he wins today's $75,000 Racecourse Hotel Grand National at Riccarton. No, we are being facetious, IF he wins - there are no certainties in horse racing, particularly when you shove fences in front of the horses.

But all the indications are there that the horse with the strange name can take the famous race despite some obvious negatives. They include the fact he is nine years old, is the only one-win horse in the race and his earnings of $48,663 pale compared to the other favourite Amanood Lad ($329,572).

The odd name? We asked trainer Shane Brown who wasn't sure of the origin, but offered: "I made inquiries with the previous people who had the horse and they thought it might have been named after the Wellington cafe of that name, but they were very vague about it."

So we called the Chocolate Fish Seafood Cafe in Wellington and the manager's wife Vanessa Andrews said, yes, she, husband David and owner John Pennington followed the horse closely.

"But as far as I know no one thought the horse was named after us. None of our customers have ever mentioned the horse."

Chocolate Fish Seafood is as incongruous a name for a restaurant as it is for a racehorse. But it is apparently very good. For that read both.

In keeping with many fairytales in horseracing, Chocolate Fish came into the Brown stable as a result of a glance over a farm fence in Foxton one day.

"I got a phone call to say 'There is a thoroughbred in this farm next door and I quite like the look of it. Can you make some inquiries'. So I did. It was Chocolate Fish and he'd been trained by Harvey Wilson who had finished with him.

"The horse already had his steeplechase ticket, so all the work had been done and there was little risk or expense in trying him."

Brown liked what he saw and when Chocolate Fish won in his steeplechasing debut at Hastings this time last year, the campaign was ambitious. "I threw him in the deep end and his second only steeplechase was in the Koral on the first day at Riccarton last year.

"He finished a great fifth then went even better when fourth [to Upper Cut] in the Grand National.

"People said I was mad stepping him up so quickly, but I believe what he learned from that has set him up to be the horse he is now going into the same races 12 months later."

There is no question Chocolate Fish should have won last week's Koral. He was coming into the race nicely approaching the last fence, but had to jump the fallen leader Notabadrooster.

It seriously bled his momentum and he did remarkably well to get within a neck of the winner Amanood Lad, who had driven through on the inside unimpeded.

You can say he was desperately unlucky, but the true sportsman in Brown won't have it. Like the optimist sees the donut and the pessimist sees the hole, Brown says Chocolate Fish was lucky not to be injured.

"Give me that every time."

There is a true sense of timing in this being a crowning moment. Chocolate Fish finished powerfully to test the game and highly talented Wise Men Say in the Wellington Steeplechase two starts back.

Staying is his game and the added distance this time, 5600m from 4250m, plays in his favour.

"It appears the track will be around the same as last week [slow9] and that is going to suit him perfectly," says Brown. "He looks magnificent after last week's run and although I don't like getting too confident, I'm happy going into the race."

A plus is having Shaun Phelan in the saddle. He has ridden the horses beautifully in the Wellington Steeples and in last week's Koral.

"Shaun has always had a good opinion of the horse," says Brown.

That could be boosted today.