CNL: Stakes hat trick for Mike Trombetta barn
Determined Kingdom wins fourth Punch Line
Frank Vespe
July 11, 2026
Determined Kingdom won for the seventh time over the Colonial Downs turf course Saturday, and the win capped a spectacular day for trainer Mike Trombetta.
Determined Kingdom, a seven-year-old Animal Kingdom gelding, won the Punch Line Stakes for the fourth time, and his triumph gave Trombetta and his team three stakes wins on the day.
“He’s an old warhorse. He’s cool,” said Trombetta’s assistant Tana Aubrey after watching Determined Kingdom win for the second straight time and the 12th time overall in a glittering career that has seen him amass more than $966,000 in earnings. “He knows how to get around there.”
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Determined Kingdom, off at 1-2, grabbed the early lead under jockey Mychel Sanchez while taking pace pressure from War Humor. Those two rocketed through an opener in 21.57 seconds and a half-mile in 43.78, but War Humor could not go with his rival, who inched away to win by two lengths over the rallying Saxton, with War Humor holding third.
Running time for 5 ½ furlongs on firm turf was 1:01.67. Determined Kingdom won the Punch Line each year from 2022 through 2024 before skipping it last year and then, perhaps, starting a new streak this year.
The Trombetta barn swept the two turf stakes restricted to Virginia-bred and -sired runners. One race prior to the Punch Line, Noquestionaboutit left no doubt in defending her Glenn Petty Stakes title, quickening away from her rivals in mid-stretch once switched to the right lead to win by three parts of a length.
“My filly broke very good,” said winning rider Jorge Ruiz. “When I asked her in the stretch, she responded very well.”
Both turf winners are owned by the Estate of R. Larry Johnson, and Noquestionaboutit was bred by Johnson, who passed away in 2025.
“We lost our dad in February of 2025, so her winning it last year was really special,” said Johnson’s daughter Tracy Mulroy. “Repeating again, it just is so incredibly meaningful to our family. She’s a special girl, and we’re so glad.”
In a pair of combined Maryland and Virginia stakes – the Miss Disco for three-year-old fillies and the Star De Naskra for three-year-olds, both restricted to horses bred or sired in Virginia and Maryland – Maryland-breds held serve.
Trombetta kicked off his hat trick in the Star De Naskra when onetime $40,000 claim Pont Aven rallied boldly four wide to the lead in upper stretch and held off Close the Gate by a desperate nose to win in 1:21.86 for seven furlongs on a fast main track.
With Mychel Sanchez aboard today, Pont Aven won for the third time in five starts since Trombetta claimed him on behalf of Day At the Races LLC and earned his first stakes win.
The Miss Disco, the first of the day’s four stakes, figured to feature another rematch between the Trombetta-trained Just Philtored and the Robbie Bailes runner Slewperstitus. The two had met four times previously, with Just Philtored having won three and finished ahead of her rival in all four.
Slewperstitus turned the tables on Just Philtored today – but it still wasn’t enough, as Irish Jig pulled the upset. Under jockey Sonny Leon, Irish Jig had a perfect rail-skimming trip and needed to save every inch of ground she could, as she edged Slewperstitus by a nose, with Just Philtored only a neck behind.
“She broke sharp today,” Leon said in a release. “She used to break slow. The added distance helped her a lot. This is a nice, classy filly.”
Irish Jig is trained by Kelly Lynn Deiter for herself and Cathy Denelsbeck. She has won two of four career starts.
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