Magdalena Racing Lessee's $125,000 Battaglia Memorial winner Tiz the Bomb headlines an oversubscribed field of 13 three-year-olds that were entered in Saturday's 51st running of the $600,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (Grade 3) at Turfway Park.
The 1 1/8-mile Jeff Ruby Steaks, run over the Tapeta surface, offers the winner 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Championship Series. The runner-up will receive 40 points while the third and fourth place finishers will tab 20 and 10 points, respectively.
The Jeff Ruby Steaks will go as Race 12 with a post time of 6:23 p.m. (all times Eastern). Turfway Park will have a special early first post of 12:45 p.m. Saturday.
Tiz the Bomb, trained by Kenny McPeek, finished second in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1). The son of Hit It a Bomb tried dirt to start his 3-year-old campaign but finished seventh in the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3). In his first start on Tapeta, Tiz the Bomb was able to hold off the late surge of Stolen Base in the 1 1/16-mile John Battaglia Memorial. Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. has the call from post No. 7.
Also entered in the field is Three Diamonds Farm and Deuce Greathouse's Stolen Base, who will add blinkers following his runner-up effort in the Battaglia; Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Kittens Joy (G3) runner-up Royal Spirit; Winchell Thoroughbreds' Texas Turf Mile winner Red Run; Michael McLoughlin's Black Gold Stakes winner Dowagiac Chief; and SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stable, Siena Farm and Golconda Stable's Blackadder.
Here's the complete field for the Jeff Ruby Steaks from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):
- Royal Spirit (Chris Landeros, Todd Pletcher);
- Stolen Base (Gerardo Corrales, Mike Maker);
- Cabo Spirit (Joe Bravo, George Papaprodromou);
- Rich Strike (Sonny Leon, Eric Read);
- Tawny Port (Manny Franco, Brad Cox);
- Great Escape (Adam Beschizza, Rodolphe Brisset);
- Tiz the Bomb (Hernandez, McPeek);
- Red Run (Joe Talamo, Steve Asmussen);
- Dowagiac Chief (James Graham, Tom Amoss);
- Optigogo (Rafael Bejarano, Eoin Harty);
- Constitutionlawyer (Jalon Samuel, Ray Handal); and
- Blackadder (Edwin Maldonado, Rodolphe Brisset).
Also Eligible: Swing Shift (Gerardo Corrales, Todd Pletcher).
Saturday's Turfway program features six stakes events worth purses of $1.7 million. Other stakes on the afternoon card are the $250,000 Bourbonette Oaks (Listed), a Championship Series race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks worth 50-20-10-5 points to the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1); $250,000 TwinSpires.com Kentucky Cup Classic (Listed); the $200,000 Rushaway; the $200,000 Latonia Stakes; and the $200,000 Animal Kingdom Stakes.
The special day program can be viewed on TVG and fans can wager on www.TwinSpires.com, the official wagering provider of Turfway Park and the Kentucky Derby.
The post McPeek-Trained Tiz The Bomb Returns To Headline Saturday’s Jeff Ruby Steaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
