Determined Joseph enters trio of contenders in Ruffian
:quality(75))
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Saffie Joseph Jr. is going deep into his roster of female dirt stakes horses to take a run at winning Saturday’s Grade 2 Ruffian at Aqueduct.
While Joseph’s quartet of 2026 dual stakes-winning fillies and mares – Claret Beret, Grammy Girl, Haulin Ice, and R Disaster – will be in their stalls, the trio of Eunomia, Dazzling Move, and Ultimate Authority comprise 43 percent of the seven-horse field for the one-mile Ruffian.
Eunomia looks the strongest of the Joseph trio. A 4-year-old daughter of Tiz the Law, Eunomia sandwiched a win in the Sandy Bottom Stakes at Colonial Downs in between a third-place finish to Claret Beret in the Grade 3 Royal Delta and a nose defeat behind Alpine Princess in the Doubledogdare last out at Keeneland.
Eunomia, who earned a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure in the Doubledogdare, is coming back in just three weeks but is cutting back to a one-turn mile, which was the configuration of the Sandy Bottom.
“The race at Colonial gave us confidence she could handle the one-turn mile,” Joseph said. “This spot makes sense. It’s coming back a little quick, but it should be her race and it’d be nice to get a graded race on her résumé.”
Though Tyler Gaffalione is named to ride Eunomia, Sahin Civaci will instead be aboard, as Gaffalione is committed to ride at Churchill on Saturday.
Dazzling Move won the Grade 3 Royal Delta in 2025 but is winless in nine starts since. Joseph felt she got eliminated at the start of the Apple Blossom, a race in which she finished last behind stablemate Claret Beret. Joseph is removing blinkers from Dazzling Move’s equipment.
Conversely, Joseph is adding blinkers to Ultimate Authority, who is only 2 for 12 in her career. She finished third in the Wayward Lass at Tampa in her most recent dirt start.
Irish Maxima, who won the Grade 3 Distaff here in 2025, brings a two-race winning streak into the Ruffian for trainer John Servis. Both of her wins, allowance races at Aqueduct in March and Parx Racing in April, came at seven furlongs and with the ability to race on Lasix, medication that is not permitted for use in stakes races. In her lone start at one mile, Irish Maxima finished fifth of six in the Grade 1 Frizette run here over a sloppy track in 2023.
Inefficiency, trained by Chad Brown, steps into stakes company after winning her first two starts – a maiden and first-level allowance – going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct.
Dry Powder, trained by Chad Summers, wheels back in eight days after running ninth of 10 in the Grade 1 La Troienne on May 1 at Churchill Downs. Summers felt his filly was compromised by the slow pace in the La Troienne, and the cutback to a one-turn mile should be a better fit for the 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner.
Cassiar, trained by Shug McGaughey, defeated Dry Powder in a one-turn mile allowance here a year ago. She is 0 for 3 since.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.