Scratched from the Jeff Ruby, Finnick the Fierce a standout in Thursday headliner

Finnick the Fierce will get a chance to pick up a win at Turfway Park this month after all. The one-eyed gelding was scratched out of the Florence, Ky., track’s signature race, the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 14, by trainer Rey Hernandez. He resurfaces Thursday in a $48,000 optional-claiming race going 1 1/8 miles against older horses.

Thursday evening’s eight-race card, which opens the final three spectator-free days of racing at the Turfway meet, includes a pair of allowance/optional events, plus a maiden special weight. These three days also mark an immediate opportunity to race in Kentucky, with the ongoing calendar uncertain due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Keeneland’s spring meeting has been canceled, and Churchill Downs has not announced definitive plans for its spring-summer meeting, which is scheduled to open April 25, although the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, and associated stakes have been postponed until September.

Finnick the Fierce, who lost an eye to infection when he was young, would have been chasing additional Kentucky Derby points in the Jeff Ruby. He may have opportunities to do that later, with additional points races for the postponed Derby to be announced by Churchill. For now, he gets some class relief under regular rider Sonny Leon and is a clear standout against his older foes.

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Finnick the Fierce was second by three-quarters of a length in last fall’s Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. The winner, Silver Prospector, took the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes in February at Oaklawn, although he was well-beaten in that track’s Grade 2 Rebel Stakes.

This year, Finnick the Fierce has finished fourth in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds and seventh in a division of the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes, beaten 4 1/4 lengths. Modernist and Major Fed, first and second in that division, finished third and fourth, respectively, in last Saturday’s Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. Finnick the Fierce prepared for his first start on a synthetic surface with a bullet half-mile work Feb. 27 at Turfway, his most recent official move.

While Finnick the Fierce is a standout, the following seventh race, another $48,000 optional claimer, features an evenly matched field with several who have shown an affinity for the Turfway track. Although Hooray for Harvey is stepping up from straight claiming company, he has won two of his last three outings, including a Feb. 28 race at Turfway going this mile distance. His Beyer Speed Figure of 80 is the best last-out number in the field. He has never been worse than second on this track.

Seventy Seventycat also is making a step up from claiming company after finishing third to Hooray for Harvey last out. He has enjoyed a productive winter at Turfway, winning twice and recording two thirds in five starts this meet.

Landofthepharoahs ships in from Fair Grounds, where he won a turf claiming race in February, and picks up the services of Turfway’s leading rider, Albin Jimenez. He was likely preparing for the Keeneland meeting for trainer Tom Amoss and finds relatively softer company here.