Jeff Ruby Steaks

We're approaching the edge of the GI Kentucky Derby abyss. Three final 100-points prep races Saturday, followed by four weeks of microscopic analysis and animated speculation. Bring it on! 1) FORTE (c, Violence--Queen Caroline, by Blame) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable; B-South Gate Farm (KY); T-Todd Pletcher. Sales history: $80,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $110,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Colt, MGISW, 7-6-0-0, $1,833,230. Last start: 1st GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Apr. 1. Kentucky Derby Points: 190. 'TDN Rising Star' Forte has made...

We've taken the plunge into the deeper end of the prep pool for the GI Kentucky Derby. Five nine-furlong stakes each awarding 100 qualifying points are scheduled over the next two Saturdays, after which this list will expand to the Top 20. 1) FORTE (c, Violence--Queen Caroline, by Blame) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable; B-South Gate Farm (KY); T-Todd Pletcher. Sales history: $80,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $110,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Colt, MGISW, 6-5-0-0, $1,833,230. Last start: 1st GII Fountain of Youth S....

Saturday's two 100-point preps for the GI Kentucky Derby yielded a pair of colts who are polar opposites in many ways. Yet the stock is on the rise for both Two Phil's (Hard Spun) and Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo), as their respective scores in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks and GII Louisiana Derby are attracting attention while stamping both as legitimate mid-tier threats on the Triple Crown totem pole. Two Phil's ($150,000 KEESEP) has appeal as a 4-for-8 blue-collar closer/stalker whose strengths are versatility and adaptability. He's won sprinting and routing...

A few days prior to Saturday's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park, Larry Rivelli, the trainer of Two Phil's (c, 3, Hard Spun--Mia Torri, by General Quarters), had said, "I've been trying to think of the easiest spot for the money and I think this will be the spot. If he absolutely hates the surface, that's on me. I'm sort of putting myself out there saying that I think he will run well over it." He didn't hate the surface. Patricia's Hope LLC and Phillip Sagan's Two Phil's powered...

Turfway Park and Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment have announced an extension to their partnership and will remain the presenting sponsor of the $700,000 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks for an additional five years. Since 2018, Jeff Ruby has been the presenting sponsor of the Jeff Ruby Steaks. The race annually serves as a major steppingstone on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and produced last year's winner of the GI Kentucky Derby, Rich Strike. This year's 52nd running of the 1 1/8-mile event will take place Saturday, Mar. 25. "Turfway Park...

Beginning Jan. 21, racing under the lights will now be consistent across the Turfway Park calendar as the Saturday post time will shift from 12:45 p.m. to 5:55 p.m. (EST). The lone exception to the new Saturday post will be Mar. 25 for Jeff Ruby Steaks Day where the card will be conducted during the afternoon. The Winter/Spring Meet will run through Saturday, Apr. 1. Live racing will be conducted Wednesday-Saturday until Feb. 28 and Thursday-Saturday Mar. 2-Apr. 1. For more information about racing from Turfway Park, visit www.TurfwayPark.com.

The $700,000 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, offering qualifying points for a spot in the field for the GI Kentucky Derby, is the centerpiece of a 20-strong stakes schedule at Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky, this winter and spring. Jeff Ruby Steaks Day will feature a total of six stakes events, including the $300,000 TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic, the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks--a Road to the Kentucky Oaks qualifying race--the $250,000 Animal Kingdom S., the $250,00 Latonia S. and the $250,000 Rushaway S. Turfway will host one other Derby points race, the...

With three weeks remaining until the GI Kentucky Derby, the trio of Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn}) (six furlongs, 1:18.60), Cyberknife (Gun Runner) (five furlongs, 1:00) and Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) (four furlongs, :48.40) worked at Churchill Downs Saturday. Gold Square's GI Arkansas Derby winner Cyberknife worked at 9 a.m. outside of multiple stakes-placed stablemate Tommy Bee (Medaglia d'Oro). Cyberknife started two lengths behind Tommy Bee and completed fractions of :12.20, :23.80 and :47.20. Cyberknife finished even with Tommy Bee around the seven eighths pole...

On a day of three 100-point prep races for the GI Kentucky Derby, it was TIZ THE BOMB (c, 3, Hit It a Bomb--Tiz the Key, by Tiznow)--a colt not officially pointing to the Derby--who won Saturday's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park to snag one of those coveted 100-point slots. Drifting from 6-5 out to 8-5, but still clearly favored as the gates flew in, Tiz the Bomb had a smooth break and sat a midfield trip on the outside through fractions of :23.25 and :47.06. Breathing menacingly...

A veteran of just seven career starts, Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) has already won races on dirt and turf and looks to stay perfect in two starts on the synth in Saturday's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park. A $330,000 graduate of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase, the bay aired in a rained-off event over the Ellis main track to graduate at second asking last July, then switched to the grass to take the lucrative Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile Sept. 6 and the Oct. 10...

A week after taking a spin around the Keeneland turf course, Like the King (Palace Malice) returned to the Keeneland main track Saturday morning, drilling three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.80 (1/3) (see below) for the GI Kentucky Derby. With former jockey Julio Garcia at the controls, the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner worked in the company of newly minted Sovereign Award winner Artie's Princess (We Miss Artie) and broke off three lengths behind his stablemate before drawing on even terms at the sixteenth pole. "That was a good work...

Like the King (Palace Malice), who earned a berth in the field for the Kentucky Derby by virtue of his last-out victory in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks over the Turfway synthetic track Mar. 27, drilled six furlongs over a firm Keeneland turf course in 1:16 Saturday morning under the watchful eye of trainer Wesley Ward. With Drayden Van Dyke in the irons, Like the King started off his work well behind MSW & GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf third Outadore (Outwork) and GIII Futurity S. runner-up After Five (The...