Nowhere in sight coming around the turn for home, Vineyard Haven, the youngest horse in the Grade I, $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, found space along the rail and charged for the wire under the urging of jockey Alan Garcia.
Coming down the sloppy front straight, the 3-year-old passed Fleet Valid and then nosed ahead of Laurel Park-based Ravalo for a half-length victory.
"Midway round that turn, I didn't think we had any horse left," said Vineyard Haven's assistant trainer, Rick Mettee, who was handling the Godolphin Racing-owned horse for trainer Saeed bin Suroor. "But he found a little room on the rail and went from fourth to first over the last 300 yards.
"There were moments when I didn't think we would win because I know Ravalo and I know he is not easy to beat when you're coming from behind."
The announced 8,607 fans at Laurel Park sent Vineyard Haven off as the 4-5 favorite on a very rainy day, and he paid $3.60, $2.40 and $2.20. He covered the six furlongs in 1:09:62 and won $180,000.
Ravalo, who calls Laurel's Barn No. 18 home, broke well and stalked the pace before going three-wide on the turn. He put his nose in front about 30 yards from the finish, but Vineyard Haven was able to stretch by him just before the wire.
Ravalo was ridden by Jeremy Rose and paid $4.40 and $3, and won $60,000.
Fleet Valid ($3.40) finished third, followed by Sacred Journey and Ah Day, the former Maryland Horse of the Year and the only other Maryland-based horse in the race.
"That's about as good as he can run," said Ravalo's trainer, Donald Barr. "I ran my race and was able to rate him the way I wanted to, but that other horse is a better horse than [mine is] right now. There is no embarrassment here.
"I think it was a good race, and I would have loved to have won this graded stake. I would have loved to have kept the money in Maryland. ... But I'm glad the facility was able to run this race this year, and I hope they'll be able to have it again because it's a Grade I stake and we need to keep the ones we've got."
The De Francis is one of just three Grade I races in Maryland, along with the Preakness and the Pimlico Special. It wasn't run last year because of a shortfall in the purse account. This past May, the Pimlico Special wasn't run for the same reason.
The De Francis Dash was being competed for the 19th time and had drawn a field of veteran sprinters. All but one of the original nine entries went to post despite heavy rain that turned Laurel's dirt track into muddy goo.
