Chess Master, Payntdembluesaway Land Tampa Bay Stakes

From the time she claimed Chess Master  for $32,000 last winter at Tampa Bay Downs, owner/trainer Kerri Raven knew she was in possession of a bundle of talent and raw speed—and a lot of nervous energy.

"The big thing was getting his brain good," Raven said after the 6-year-old Florida-bred gelding posted a front-running, 2 1/2-length victory over Xy Speed  in the $100,000 Turf Dash Stakes for older males going five furlongs on the Tampa Bay lawn.

"He's always been a really fast horse, but he can be fractious. So we got him happy that way, and he's the nicest horse I've had," Raven said.

Chess Master's victory in a final time of :55.56 on firm turf under jockey Jesus Castanon followed an equally convincing score by Payntdembluesaway  in the $100,000 Lightning City Stakes for fillies and mares on the track's Turf Sprint Showcase Day.

The Turf Dash victory was the first in a stakes for Raven, who has saddled Chess Master for seven victories from 11 starts since the claim. Bred by Brenda K. Jones, Chess Master is a 6-year-old Overdriven  gelding out of the Chester House mare Chesty. He earned $60,000, which included the $15,000 in additional funds provided by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association to a registered state-bred winner.

The Connector  finished third in the nine-horse field, while never threatening the top two. The 2-1 favorite, Bad Beat Brian , finished sixth.

Xy Speed and Samy Camacho broke on top from the No. 6 post, but it was only a matter of a few strides before Chess Master shot to an advantage from the inside that he would never yield.

"I just took advantage of my (post) position, because I knew my horse wants to be in front," Castanon said. "I was pretty sure (trainer Gerald) Bennett's horse was going to chase me, and I knew he was really going to have to run because every time (Chess Master) gets around another horse, he gets stronger."

Xy Speed and Camacho took their best shots at the quarter-mile pole and the top of the stretch, to no avail.

"I tried my best to take the lead, but he (Chess Master) broke so sharp," Camacho said. "I tried to go with him, but he beat me."

"It was like (Chess Master) was just exploding in (Castanon's) hands," Raven said. "He kept finding another gear. It was fantastic."

Chess Master improved his record to 11-2-3 from 27 starts, with earnings of $230,755. He was bred in Virginia by Brenda K. Jones and is the first stakes winner produced by the Mineshaft mare Un Blessed, herself a daughter of the grade 1 winning-turf mare Plenty of Grace (by Roberto). Un Blessed has an unamed 2-year-old colt by Ghostzapper   and a yearling filly by Candy Ride   who sold for $280,000 to Clear Ridge Stables from the Lane's End consignment at last fall's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. She has been bred to Kitten's Joy   for 2022.

Video: Turf Dash S. (BT)

Payntdembluesaway Shines

It's rare when a plan works as well as it did for 6-year-old Payntdembluesaway in the Lightning City Stakes. But the talented Kentucky-bred isn't your typical racehorse.

"She is just a really, really fast filly," trainer Jane Cibelli said via telephone after Payntdembluesaway scored a 3 1/4-length victory from Poseidon's Passion  in a final time of :56.73. "She is pretty straightforward. The key to her is to just not get in her way."

A 2-1 second choice at post time, Payntdembluesaway left no doubts of her superiority to her 11 rivals on this day. Morales kept her flanked outside Senora Roma  on the backstretch, and when it came time to decide the outcome, Payntdembluesaway did what comes naturally—run for daylight.

Poseidon's Passion and jockey Fernando De La Cruz edged a game Senora Roma by a neck for second. The 9-5 favorite, Mamba Wamba , finished 10th.

The Lightning City is the second stakes victory for Payntdembluesaway, who won the Dec. 4 Claiming Crown Distaff Dash Starter Stakes at Gulfstream Park. She finished fourth in last year's Lightning City.

"She is just so naturally fast, you can do whatever," Morales said. "My only instructions from (Cibelli) were to let her do her own running—don't send her, don't take her back, just give her a nice, long hold and she'll do the rest, and she couldn't have been more right.

"My job was to let her use her natural speed and just keep her happy. She was super good in the gate the whole time, very professional, and when the gate opened she shot out of there like a rocket.

"She was running hard the whole way. Turning for home, I thought we were going to win unless something really finished," Morales added.

The victory raised the daughter of Paynter  's record to nine wins and a second from 15 starts, with the winner's share of $45,000 raising her career earnings to $237,920 for Ed Hart's All My Hart Racing.

Payntdembluesaway raced for a claiming price as recently as her ninth start, a victory at Gulfstream in December of 2020.

"That's how you make horses sometimes," Cibelli said. "We had some issues early in her career—nothing major, but it was start and stop, start and stop. We got through that and now she has so much confidence, she thinks she's a world-beater."

Bred in Kentucky by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding, Payntdembluesaway first passed through the ring as a weanling at the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where she was acquired by agent Mick Flanagan for $47,000 out of the Taylor Made Sales consignment. She then was sold as a yearling the following year at the Keeneland September Sale to McMahon and Hill Bloodstock from the Dromoland Farm consignment. Payntdembluesaway is out of the winning Unbridled Song's mare Denim n' Motion, the dam of two winners from three offspring to race.

Video: Lightning City S. (BT)