Somelikeithotbrown draws off to score in Jeff Ruby Steaks

FLORENCE, Ky. – Somelikeithotbrown was not error free in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park, losing focus in the stretch when on the lead and drifting away from urging from jockey Tyler Gaffalione. Regardless, his class and speed propelled him to a 3 1/4-length victory, keeping him on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Backed to 3-5 favoritism in an 11-horse Jeff Ruby that had only one other stakes winner, Somelikeithotbrown ($3.20) was always full of run, even if his mind was not fully occupied. He dragged Gaffalione to set the pace down the backstretch of the two-turn Ruby, establishing quick fractions of 47.03 seconds and 1:10.78, and kept his rivals at bay in the stretch under stern reminders from his jockey. He finished 1 1/8 miles on Turfway’s synthetic Polytrack in 1:52.05.

“Down the lane, he was kind of waiting on horses, kind of looking around, but he did everything easy,” Gaffalione said. “He’s a very nice horse, very talented.”

45-1 Longshot Dynamic Racer finished second behind Somelikeithotbrown, just as he did previously in the John Battaglia Memorial on Feb. 15. Another outsider, 59-1 Moonster, ran third.

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They, nor any others in the Ruby, ever put Somelikeithotbrown in any danger – though Five Star General, the 6-1 third choice, briefly headed him early on the first turn and pushed him into setting a fast pace before fading to fourth.

Skywire, who is considered a prospect for this summer’s Queen’s Plate at Woodbine and was sent off the second favorite at 7-2 odds in the Jeff Ruby, came under an early drive and ran eighth.

Somelikeithotbrown’s victory provided trainer Mike Maker with his fifth victory in the Jeff Ruby, all after the track installed Polytrack in 2005. He previously won with With a City (2006), Dean’s Kitten (2010), Oscar Nominated (2016), and Fast and Accurate (2017) when the race was run under different names, such as the Spiral.

Of those winners that went on to contest the Kentucky Derby, all were outrun. Dean’s Kitten ran 14th, and both Oscar Nominated and Fast and Accurate finished 17th.

All three went directly from the Jeff Ruby into the Kentucky Derby, an improbable scenario for Somelikeithotbrown, who is likely to return in one of the final round of Kentucky Derby preps next month. Maker mentioned the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass at Keeneland on April 6 as a next-race possibility.

Somelikeithotbrown's owners and breeders, Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stable, said after the race that they wished to discuss options before committing.

Saturday’s Jeff Ruby was worth 20 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, down from the 50 that it offered a couple of years ago, and shy of the 29 minimum that was required to gain entrance to the oversubscribed Derby last year.

Although more accomplished on turf and synthetic tracks than on dirt – having run seventh in his only dirt appearance last summer when debuting at Saratoga in the slop – Somelikeithotbrown is not without dirt influences in his pedigree. He is a New York-bred son of 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown.

Jeff Ruby winners have twice won the Kentucky Derby: Lil E. Tee in 1992 and Animal Kingdom in 2011, with the latter doing so during the track’s synthetic era.