“He’s always been the kind of horse that relaxed off the pace and came on with a rush,” said Schoenthal, “But in the last two starts, he was very keen and showed a lot of speed and didn’t have his relaxing kind of run. We cut blinkers way back today and felt like that might slow him and relax him, but I told Mychel in the paddock that if he wants to go, don’t fight him. He came out of there running. Mychel had a ton of horse, put him in place and put the field away.” 

Schoenthal targeted this race early in the year. Coming off an eight-month layoff, Determined Kingdom had two late spring starts in Maryland that resulted in sixth- and seventh-place finishes. 

“He needed a couple starts off the layoff,” Schoenthal said. “I didn’t have him totally cranked up at Pimlico and thought he would run better at Laurel but didn’t feel too bad because the winner in that race set a new track record. It was improvement, and I felt that in his third start off the bench, he would improve again. I’m real proud of him. We got him as a yearling and he’s been a lot of fun. It’s really rewarding when he shows up on a big day.”

Larry Johnson’s Embolden was second and David Lengel’s Uncle Andrew finished third.

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Sam English’s Chambeau defended her 2022 Tyson Gilpin/Glenn Petty Stakes title by defeating seven other fillies and mares Saturday in this year’s edition. The 6-year-old Karakontie mare was ridden by Colonial’s all-time leading jockey Horacio Karamanos — who had two stakes victories on the card — and left the winners circle with a career bankroll of $200,300.

Chambeau was positioned second through the half, took the lead at the top of the stretch and crossed 3¾ lengths the best. The Anthony Aguirre trainee — who did not start competing until the age of five — is now 3-for-6.

Robert D. Bone and Edward Brown’s Carolina Sun finished second and Stonestreet Stables’ Aisha R N was third.

Country Life Farm’s Galilei angled three-wide from third at the top of the stretch, passed two front runners and hit the wire first, three-quarter lengths the best, in the $125,000 Brookmeade for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. The 4-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid had her best outing since a maiden-breaking turf win at Colonial last summer. Karamanos was in the irons for trainer Michael Trombetta.      

Susan Moulton’s Tufani was runner-up and Larry Johnson’s Continentalcongress finished third.

Six-year-old Flatter gelding Alex Joon, who finished second in last year’s Edward P. Evans Stakes, took a step forward in Saturday’s Evans with a three-length victory over Reiley McDonald’s Passion Play. A field of nine battled one mile in the stake’s fifth running, and after an inside move from deep in the field early on, trainer Lindsay Schultz’s Virginia-bred crossed first with Forest Boyce up top. The victor is owned by Ten Strike Racing. Iapetus Racing and Diamond T racing’s Gigante was third.