BASED on early morning spins coming into the race, jockey Javaniel Patterson says he was confident that Blue Vinyl would win the $1.14-million Temperence Oaks Trophy feature on Saturday, April 15, 2023, as the four-year-old chestnut colt showed signs of progression.

The double Classic winner of last year, Blue Vinyl, who was making his seasonal debut, led most of the way in the Restricted Overnight Allowance contest for three-year-olds and upwards, hitting the line ahead of rivals by 4¼ lengths. The Bern Identity–Blufield offspring stopped the clock in a time of 1:20.2 with fractions of 23.2 x 47.0 x 1:12.2.

“Working him [Blue Vinyl] in the mornings coming into this race, he showed me that he is a different horse from what he was last year. Even in his last gallop for this race he showed me that he was ready, and he came and won. The performance by him was good,” Patterson said.

“From the half mile, I could feel him hanging out a bit and so I held him, as I didn’t want to swing off the track coming off the bend. Coming up the lane he started to drift out so I said, ‘Let him continue to drift,’ as I was not going to correct him, and he followed through well.

“Blue Vinyl has improved as a four-year-old, and he is more mature as well. The trainer [Patrick Lynch] has done well with this horse,” Patterson added.

Blue Vinyl left the confines of the gates in good order and led Brinks (Dane Dawkins) by a head down the backstretch. Brinks pointed on Blue Vinyl approaching the half-mile (800m) turn as D Head Cornerstone (Paul Francis), Big Big Daddy (Richard Henry), and Outbidder (Reyan Lewis) geared up behind for a possible collapse in pace by the leaders.

Turning for home, Blue Vinyl regained the lead, and although he began to drift out to the right, the four-year-old chestnut colt continued to turn the pressure on rivals to power home. Brinks held his gallop well for second place, with Big Big Daddy just a length and a quarter behind in third place.