The following appeared in a Maryland Jockey Club Press Release on June 23rd.
D Hatman Thoroughbreds and Kingdom Bloodstock’s Determined Vision lived up to his name in his turf and stakes debut, leading all the way for a hard-fought half-length upset of Saturday’s $75,000 White Oak Farm Stakes at Laurel Park.
The 5 ½-furlong White Oak Farm was the last of four $75,000 stakes restricted to Virginia-bred/sired horses 3 and up over Laurel’s world-class turf course on the 11-race Commonwealth Day program. It was preceded by the Nellie Mae Cox and M. Tyson Gilpin for fillies and mares and one-mile Edward Evans.
Determined Vision, bred by Robin Richards, won the $75,000 White Oak Farm Stakes on the Commonwealth Day card. Photo by Jim McCue.
Determined Vision ($24.80) and rider Jevian Toledo had to survive objections from both Christian Hiraldo, aboard runner-up Available, and Julian Pimentel on fourth-place finisher and 7-5 favorite Fly E Dubai before both claims were dismissed.
Fitted with bright blue earmuffs for the first time in just his fifth career start, the 3-year-old Jump Start gelding set a blazing pace of 21.72 seconds for the opening quarter-mile, chased by Hatteras Bound, before going a half in 44.65 seconds with Available pressing to his inside.
Determined Vision holds off Available (outside) approaching the wire in the June 23rd White Oak Farm Stakes. Photo by Jim McCue.
The group remained tightly bunched going around the far turn and Determined Vision was still in front after five furlongs in 56.11. Set down for a drive through the stretch by Toledo, they were able to outrun Available and hold off late-running Lime House Louie, who was a half-length back in third and a head in front of Fly E Dubai.
“My experience is that there hadn’t been a lot of Jump Starts that like the grass but moreso than that, he’s an a-other-than running against horses that are two-other-thans and that’s a tough ask for a horse,” Schoenthal said. “But, at the end of the day, the race didn’t seem like it was that tough and we didn’t think that there was a lot of speed in there. We thought maybe we’ll get out there and steal it. It worked out awesome.”
Lime House Louie finished third for the second straight year in the White Oak Farm. Rounding out the finishers were Homespun Hero, 11-year-old Two Notch Road, the 2016 White Oak winner, Hatteras Bound and Braxton.
Rider Jevian Toledo is aboard White Oak Farm upset winner Determined Vision. Photo courtesy of Jim McCue.
Toledo dismounted Determined Vision on the turf course following the race so the tack could be readjusted for their return to the winner’s circle. Schoenthal credited the jockey for a superb ride.
“He’s kind of a high-strung horse. We put the earmuffs on him in the morning and it really seemed to calm him down so we added the earmuffs for the race today and he seemed like he relaxed and took a deep breath and ran well despite having his saddle slip,” Schoenthal said. “Hats off to Toledo. A lot of riders would have pulled him up out of the race for their own safety and he rode the hair off him, anyway. It was really Toledo’s win more than anything else.”