Major Dude and Two Phil’s, the top two choices on the morning line for Saturday’s Grade 3, $700,000 Jeff Ruby at Turfway Park, make a surface switch to Tapeta as they collide with local prep winners Funtastic Again and Congruent. All four have performed creditably on dirt in the past, making them intriguing prospects as this full field of 12 tries to earn Kentucky Derby points. The 1 1/8-mile Ruby awards points toward the May 6 Derby on a 100-40-30-20-10 scale. Last year, Rich Strike finished third in the Ruby en route to his upset win at Churchill Downs, the parent company of which owns Turfway. The Ruby is the feature on Turfway’s marquee 13-race card, which has a first post of 12:45 p.m. and includes five other stakes. The Ruby’s sister race, the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks, is a Kentucky Oaks points race. There are two other 3-year-old stakes on the undercard, the $250,000 Rushaway and $250,000 Animal Kingdom. The card also includes the $300,000 Kentucky Cup Classic and its sister race, the $250,000 Latonia. The Turfway card boasts a robust average of 12.5 entries per race. Major Dude began his career on dirt, with a maiden win and a third in the one-mile Sapling. Trainer Todd Pletcher, prompted by the versatility of freshman sire Bolt d’Oro’s runners, shifted him to turf, and the colt has become a multiple graded stakes winner, taking the Grade 2 Pilgrim last fall and Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy last time out with a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 91, tied for the best in this field. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator. Irad Ortiz Jr., aboard for all four of Major Dude’s turf starts, retains the mount. He will have to work out a trip as the colt, who prefers to settle before pouncing with a late rush, has drawn the rail. There appears to be a good amount of speed in the Ruby. Funtastic Again is ideally drawn to flaunt his early foot from post 4 under Gerardo Corrales. Bluebirds Over, winner of last year’s Grade 3 Grey at Woodbine, also has speed, as does Maker’s Candy, who earned a 90 Beyer in a New York-bred maiden win before being disqualified from a first-place finish in the Gander. The workmanlike Two Phil’s, drawn out in post 10 under Jareth Loveberry, has matured into a stalking type. “I’m just looking for him to get an uneventful trip if that’s at all possible,” trainer Larry Rivelli said. “He’s not a speed horse, which is good, because they typically don’t do as well over the synthetic surface. “If he can sit behind a horse or two and make his move around the turn with the shorter stretch, that’s what I’d like to see.” In his three most recent outings, Two Phil’s won the Grade 3 Street Sense at Churchill Downs; finished second in the Grade 3 Lecomte to Instant Coffee, the morning-line favorite for the Louisiana Derby; and was third in the Grade 2 Risen Star, all on dirt. “At one point the horse did a two-minute lick for me one time over a synthetic surface and it was almost an eye-opening move,” Rivelli said. “If he absolutely hates the surface, that’s on me. . . . Working a half-mile or five-eighths is a lot different than running a race. That’s when you find out if a horse doesn’t like a surface. “I’m pretty confident he will like it, but like anything else in racing there could be a chance he doesn’t like it.” Turfway stakes standouts Funtastic Again and Congruent have shown opposite styles. Funtastic Again, an off-turf maiden winner last August at Saratoga, was a front-running 5 1/2-length allowance/optional-claiming winner in December at Turfway. In his next start, he led throughout in a 3 3/4-length win in the Leonatus Stakes on Jan. 21. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures Congruent earned 20 points toward the Kentucky Derby with his dramatic win in the John Battaglia Memorial on March 4 at Turfway. The Laurel Futurity winner, last of 12 early, made a wide rush under Sonny Leon to win by 3 1/2 lengths, finishing full of run and earning a 91 Beyer. In the process, he flattered Major Dude, as he had been sixth in the Kitten’s Joy in his prior outing. “He came out of it like any other race,” said Luis Gavignano of Lugamo Racing, which owns the Antonio Sano-trained colt with Tami Bobo. “He was not tired at all, he was behaving. We were also very impressed with the connection between Sonny Leon and the horse. That was the first time that he rode the horse, and they got along really well together.” Scoobie Quando won the Turfway Prevue sprinting in his debut before finishing second to the improving Wadsworth in an allowance/optional-claiming race in February. Wadsworth has won back-to-back races at Turfway since being gelded. In his last start, Scoobie Quando finished with good energy to be second in the Battaglia. The maiden winners Baby Billy, Escapologist, Event Detail, and Point Proven complete the field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.