Full field likely for Jeff Ruby Steaks

A sizable reduction in purse and Kentucky Derby qualifying points has seemingly done little to dissuade horsemen from entering runners for Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park. A full field of 12 is projected, although no leading Derby contenders are expected.

The Jeff Ruby, a race on Polytrack formerly known as the Spiral among other names, has not played a prominent role in the Kentucky Derby picture since Animal Kingdom won both the Spiral and the Derby in 2011. This trend led Churchill Downs officials to make it worth 20 Derby points to the winner this year, down from 50.

With the winner no longer being assured a berth in the Derby based on the usual Derby point cutoff in the low 20s, Turfway repositioned he Jeff Ruby earlier this year to give its participants the chance to earn additional points in another Kentucky Derby prep. That change, along with simply providing a synthetic niche in a 3-year-old stakes landscape, has seemingly allowed it to maintain active participation despite the purse also being cut from $500,000.

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Up to half of the starting gate is expected to be filled with horses with already established synthetic form. Archaggelos, winner of the Grade 3 Grey last fall at Woodbine, is among those expected along with California Derby top two finishers Choo Choo and Mugaritz from Golden Gate in Northern California. They are likely to be joined by the top three finishers from last month’s John Battaglia Stakes from Turfway, a race Magicalmeister won over Sky Promise and Arawak.

Hollywood Star, fourth in his lone start of the year in the Grade 3 Sam. F. Davis, and Pony Up, a colt that was twice stakes-placed on turf this winter at Gulfstream before running fifth in the Grade 2 Holy Bull, are other noteworthy entrants considered probable by Turfway stakes coordinator Randy Wehrman.

The 1 1/8-mile Jeff Ruby is one of five stakes Saturday that includes its sister race, the Grade 3, $100,000 Bourbonette Oaks, and a revival of the Kentucky Cup Classic, which was last run in 2011 during a September meet that no longer exists. Last year’s Spiral winner, Fast and Accurate, who finished 17th at 41-1 odds in the 2017 Derby, is among a sizable group of horses being targeted for the Kentucky Cup Classic, which carries a $100,000 purse.

As with the Jeff Ruby, the Bourbonette also had its points value reduced by Churchill Downs, in this case toward the Kentucky Oaks. It is now worth 20 to the winner after being 50 in prior years.