All My Hart Racing, Inc.'s Payntdembluesaway dueled with 46-1 long shot Cat's Astray for a half-mile before putting that rival away and sprinting clear to a popular four-length victory in the $90,000 Claiming Crown Distaff Dash at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
The Distaff Dash was the third straight victory on the program for jockey Paco Lopez including the $75,000 Iron Horse Kent Stirling Memorial with Blue Steel. Payntdembluesaway ($5.60), favored at 9-5 in a field of 12, covered the distance in :55.31 over a firm course.
“She runs the way she runs. There is no tactics or anything. She just breaks and runs. She's really, really fast, and she just loves to run,” winning trainer Jane Cibelli said. “Paco and I talked in the paddock and he said, 'What do you think? There's some speed in there.' I said, 'Paco, you've ridden her how many times? You know her better than anybody. Just when the gates open, see what she does.'”
Lopez has been aboard Payntdembluesaway for six of her eight career victories, including five straight from November 2019 to Jan. 28, part of the 5-year-old mare's six-race win streak. They broke alertly and immediately hooked up with Cat's Astray, going a quarter-mile in :21.67 and the half in :43.85, taking over the lead for good in mid-stretch and drawing away.
“That's exactly how she likes to run. She likes to sit on the outside of the speed and she was just running easily,” Cibelli said. “Paco wasn't asking her at all. She's just fast.”
Drop a Hint, at 19-1, emerged from a tight trailing pack to be second, with Beantown Baby third, Cat's Astray fourth, and Odramark fifth, separated by a head and two necks.
Payntdembluesaway returned to her winning ways after two consecutive off-the-board finishes, eight months apart. She was fourth after forcing the pace in the five-furlong Lightning City Feb. 24 at Tampa Bay Downs in Tampa, Fla., returning to be eighth following a wide trip over a yielding course in a 5 ½-furlong optional claimer Oct. 28 at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.
“You look at her previous races, and you think if she runs back to her races of last year then she wins the race,” Cibelli said. “But, that last race was disappointing. It was yielding turf and she was on the outside, but it was still disappointing. You [wonder], is she going to come back? She did.”
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