CHESS CHIEF named Virginia Horse of the Year

Purchased as a yearling at Saratoga by Kirkwood for trainer Dallas Stewart and the Estate of James Coleman
Chess Chief (outside) wins the 2021 Tenacious Stakes at Fair Grounds
Chess Chief (outside) wins the 2021 Tenacious Stakes at Fair Grounds

Hodges Photography / Lou Hodges, Jr.

  • Virginia Thoroughbred Association Press Release

The annual Virginia Breeder’s Awards program has been scheduled at Great Meadow Friday May 6th—the evening before the Virginia Gold Cup Races—in a return to more of a “normal times” format for the first time since 2019. The event will take place in a trackside tent on Member’s Hill overlooking the deep stretch and finish line areas where steeplechase horses are set to compete the next afternoon. A list of awards to be presented that night follows.

Horse-of-the-Year honors go to Chess Chief, who was also recognized as Virginia-Bred Older Horse Champion based on two stakes wins and $446,290 in earnings. The Dallas Stewart trainee struck early and late in the year, connecting at Fair Grounds twice in the Grade 2 New Orleans Stakes March 20 and in the Tenacious Stakes December 26. Bred by Morgan’s Ford Farm, the 6-year-old Into Mischief horse heads into spring with $865,338 in winnings overall.

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