Hush of a Storm survived a review of the stretch drive to spring a mild upset in Friday night’s $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park. Hush of a Storm ($15.40) picked up 10 points toward a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate for his victory in the Battaglia, the local stepping-stone to the Grade 3, $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 27 at Turfway. Following the Florence, Ky., track’s acquisition by Churchill Downs Inc., the latter company bolstered the status of the track’s spring prep races. This was the Battaglia’s first year awarding Derby points, and the Ruby will award its top finishers points on a 100-40-20-10 scale, the maximum point values in the Derby prep series. Friday night's co-feature at Turfway, the $65,000 Cincinnati Trophy, also awarded its winner, Wait for Nairobi, 10 points toward the Kentucky Oaks. The second- through fourth-place finishers in Friday night’s stakes earned points on a 4-2-1 scale toward the Derby and Oaks, respectively. In the Battaglia, Gretzky the Great, winner of the Grade 1 Summer Stakes on the Woodbine turf last September, was sent away as the even-money favorite for his first start since finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last November at Keeneland. The colt broke sharply from the rail in the field of 11 under Gerardo Corrales and recorded honest opening fractions of 23.86 seconds for the quarter and 47.11 for the half on the Tapeta while hounded by Pico d’Oro. Hush of a Storm and regular rider Santiago Gonzalez settled into eighth in the early going. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2021: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Gretzky the Great put away Pico d’Oro – who would fade to eighth – turning for home and doggedly turned to fending off second choice Like the King, who had pounced from his early stalking position in fourth. Meanwhile, Hush of a Storm had swung wide into the lane to rally for the drive and drew alongside the two favorites nearing the sixteenth pole. Remaining on his left lead, Hush of a Storm bore in under right-handed urging before Gonzalez corrected him, appearing to crowd Like a King between horses. Like a King, under Rafael Bejarano's left-handed urging, in turn shifted in toward Gretzky the Great on the rail, with Corrales briefly and slightly rising in his irons at the sixteenth pole before recovering to resume left-handed urging. Meanwhile, Hard Rye Guy, who was last after the opening half-mile, had been rallying up the inside behind Gretzky the Great. Hard Rye Guy was steadied by Chris Landeros and shifted his run to the outside. Hush of a Storm jumped over to his correct lead with Gonzalez opening his right rein to urge the colt away from his foes, and the colt ultimately drew clear to cross the line 1 1/2 lengths in front, going away. Like the King was second by a neck over Gretzky the Great, with Hard Rye Guy another 1 1/4 lengths back in fourth. Following a lengthy inquiry into the stretch runs of the top four finishers, the stewards left the order of finish as it was. The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:44. This was the third consecutive win on Turfway's Tapeta track for Hush of a Storm, a New York-bred Creative Cause colt trained by Bill Morey. Hush of a Storm finished eighth in his debut - and lone start on dirt thus far – going seven furlongs at Churchill Downs last November. He won his maiden the following month going a mile at Turfway, making a swift move exiting the far turn and rolling clear by 5 1/4 lengths. In an allowance event on Jan. 6, he was sixth at the quarter pole but was up to win by three-quarters of a length, again going a mile. Gonzalez has been aboard for all three of his victories. Later on the card, Wait for Nairobi ($32.20) capitalized on a swift pace with a strong drive down the stretch to win her stakes debut in the Cincinnati Trophy. Wait for Nairobi, a Carpe Diem filly trained by Rey Hernandez, made her first four starts in maiden special weight races at Indiana Grand last summer and fall. She was second and third, respectively, in a pair of sprints on the turf and the dirt, and was third going a mile and 70 yards on the dirt. She made her first start at Turfway last December and finished third in a maiden special weight going a mile, beaten less than a quarter-length. On Jan. 15, she crossed the line second by a neck after being carried out late; she was promoted to the maiden victory via disqualification. Off that early record, the filly was sent away as the third-longest shot on the board in the field of nine. She was seventh after the opening quarter under Edgar Morales, but was less than three lengths back as favored Igloo took the tightly bunched field through the opening quarter in 22.12. Igloo maintained her lead over the stalking Phantom Vision through a sharp half in 44.72. Wait for Nairobi made a sweeping move around the far turn to reach striking position on the outside at the quarter pole. She wore down the two leaders, then cleared in the final stages to win by two lengths. Phantom Vision wound up a clear second by 3 1/4 lengths. Igloo held third, 3 1/2 lengths clear of Speeding. The final time for the 6 1/2 furlongs was 1:17.64. The Cincinnati Trophy leads to the $150,000 Bourbonette Oaks on the Ruby undercard on March 27. That race awards Kentucky Oaks points on a 20-8-4-2 scale.