FLORENCE, KY – St. Elias Stable and Starlight Racing’s Fulleffort powered home down the center of the stretch at Turfway Park Racing & Gaming to capture Saturday’s 55th running of the $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3), part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby Championship Series.
With Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for trainer Brad Cox, Fulleffort covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.94, earning 100 qualifying points and securing a spot in the starting gate for the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).
The race began with California shipper Medici quickly taking command, setting an opening quarter-mile in :23.18. He cruised through a half-mile in :47.16 and maintained control into the far turn, where Stark Contrast launched a three-wide bid as Fulleffort began to gather momentum.
Turning for home, Fulleffort surged through the middle of the track and powered past both Stark Contrast and the pacesetting Medici, drawing off to win by 2 ½ lengths.
“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. I think he’s continuing to improve.”
“He’s a hard-knocking horse that continues to improve,” assistant trainer Trace Messina said. “He does everything we ask of him and trained really well into this race. We’ll talk it over with Brad and the team to decide next steps, but we’re very happy for everyone involved to get the job done today.”
Sent off as the 9-5 favorite, Fulleffort returned $5.82 to win.
Stop the Car finished fourth, followed by Argos, Brave Force, Two Out Hero, Black Hornet, Turf Star, Maximus Prime, and Baytown Dreamer. Chaos Agent was pulled up on the far turn and walked back to the barn.
Fulleffort, a gray or roan colt by Liam’s Map out of the Awesome Again mare Callmethesqueeze, was bred in Kentucky by Athens Woods.
The victory was worth $449,700 and improved Fulleffort’s record to 6-3-2-1.
The Jeff Ruby Steaks awards qualifying points to the top five finishers on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale toward entry into the Kentucky Derby starting gate.
