FLORENCE, Ky. -- Colorful restaurateur Jeff Ruby, whose namesake chain of enterprises sponsors Turfway Park's signature Grade 3, $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks, walked across the winner's circle to Jack Wolf of Starlight Racing. The owner had just watched his Fulleffort, carrying the silks of co-owner St. Elias Stable, connect in the race. With a knowing grin, Ruby inquired where the Ruby winner might race next.  "What do you think?" Wolf asked rhetorically, emphatically.  Fulleffort is bound for the Kentucky Derby in six weeks after winning the Ruby, capping a winter of consistency at Turfway Park with a victory in this race, which awarded points toward the starting gate on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale.  The gray Liam's Map colt, who is trained by Brad Cox, relished going nine furlongs for the first time for a breakthrough 2 1/2-length victory to lock up his spot. He was second, beaten a length, in the one-mile Leonatus on Jan. 17, and second again, beaten a neck, in the 1 1/16-mile John Battaglia Memorial on Feb. 21.  :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. "He deserved it, he really did," said assistant trainer Trace Messina, who oversees the Turfway string for Cox. "His two starts here, he ran his tail off for us. To see it all come together today ... it's very gratifying"  Fulleffort ($5.82) was reunited with Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode him to an allowance win at Keeneland last fall. Saturday marked the comeback for Ortiz, who took a spill March 12 at Gulfstream when a first-time starter ducked in after the break and ran into the rail. X-rays on the rider’s sore hip were negative. He was named on horses March 19 and 20 at Gulfstream, but ultimately took off, and returned Saturday at Turfway, with solid results. He won three races on the day, also including the Latonia Stakes with Stylish Sue.  Ortiz put the late-running Fulleffort into the race at an earlier point than his previous two outings. The colt, who broke from post 2 as the post-time favorite, was ninth in the full field of 12 after the opening half. California shipper Medici was running freely through a split of 47.16 seconds on the Tapeta, most closely pursued by Argos, winner of the Grade 1 Summer on the Woodbine turf last year, and recently transferred to the Cox barn from Riley Mott.  Ortiz asked Fulleffort for run into the far turn, and he began making steady progress while moving between and then outside horses.  "That was the plan going in," Messina said. "Just have him in striking distance around the three-eighths pole. I felt really good around the three-eighths pole, let's just say that."  Fulleffort edged his way to the front into the stretch, and had to work to shake off Stark Contrast, who had also pounced on fellow California shipper Medici. But Fulleffort indeed shook off that foe, and powered clear to the wire. He finished the nine furlongs in 1:49.94.  "He has a strong closing kick," Ortiz said. "I knew he’d come with his best run and he handled stretching out in distance really well."  Stark Contrast, a Grade 3 winner on turf last year, was making his first start since winning the Eddie Logan on Jan. 8, missing a planned start in the Pasadena last month with a foot bruise. Trainer Michael McCarthy was pleased with the effort off that break between starts, particularly after Stark Contrast broke from post 11 under Kazushi Kimura.  "Very good effort, bounced out of there, had to use him a little bit going into the first turn," McCarthy said. "Kazushi did a good job of getting him to angle in and getting him into a solid position. He put in a good run around the turn and finished up nicely. Just second-best on the day. He'll move forward from the race."  After Stark Contrast, it was 3 1/2 lengths back to Medici. The top three were followed, in order, by Stop the Car, Argos, Brave Force, Two Out Hero, Black Hornet, Turf Star, Maximus Prime, and Baytown Dreamer. Chaos Agent, coming off a debut win at Gulfstream, pressed the pace in third for the opening half before weakening dramatically. He was pulled up around the far turn, but his connections reported to track publicity the colt had just tired badly and was in good order back at the barn.  No winner of the Ruby - which has been known by a number of different sponsor names - has gone on to win the Kentucky Derby since Animal Kingdom in 2011. However, the track switched from the Polytrack synthetic surface to Tapeta prior to the 2020-2021 racing season, and the Ruby has become a meaningful prep, with form on this surface transferring well to the Churchill Downs dirt. In 2022, Rich Strike finished third in the Ruby to cap his run through the Turfway prep series, then drew in to the Derby as an also-eligible and pulled off the second-biggest upset in race history. In 2023, Two Phil's won at Turfway, then was a creditable second in the Derby. In 2024, Endlessly did not make an impact in the Derby - but eventual Preakness winner Seize the Grey had been third in the Ruby.  Last year, Cox won the Ruby with another late-running gray, Final Gambit, who was a creditable fourth in the Kentucky Derby. Fulleffort will look to go a bit better for the barn in six weeks.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.