Preview: Jeff Ruby Stakes at Turfway Park This Saturday

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00:00and there are Kentucky Derby points up for grabs and probably a couple of horses in this field

00:05that will make it into the starting gate come that first Saturday in May. So let's head on over

00:10to Turfway Park. Let's meet the field for the Jeff Ruby Stakes. It's going to go as race number 12

00:16on Saturday at Turfway Park. So the big races are the 12th race at the fairgrounds for the

00:22Louisiana Derby and then the 12th race at Turfway Park for the Jeff Ruby Stakes. We meet the one

00:28to start things out, Alexa Calling Card. He is a deep closer. He's a stone cold closer. So he's

00:34going to drop back. He's going to make one late run. I think he's a little bit better than his

00:38overall form might suggest if you're just looking at some of his finishes, because once he gets

00:43going, if he gets stopped, he has a hard time like starting over again. One of these races,

00:49he's going to get a clean trip and he'll come flying late. He just, he needs the setup. And

00:54I'm not sure if it's going to be on Saturday, but I do think a little higher of him than I feel like

00:59the common perception of this horse is. Yeah. I mean, like you said, maybe we've lost a little

01:05bit of faith in him, but not a bad horse. And this is the first time he's trying synthetic, which

01:10might help out with that running style. And his trainer Mike Maker has a really strong record in

01:15this race. He's won it five times in the last 15 years. So he definitely knows what it takes to win

01:20in this spot. I'm still not going to play him this week though. Charlie's to blame totally

01:25opposite end of the spectrum. That's the number two. He's fast early. I'm a little concerned about

01:31the trip that he gets in this race, Alexa, how it sets up for him. Cause I think there are a couple

01:35other front runners, even like the horse to his outside. I would prefer over him as a front runner,

01:42California burrito. Yeah. I mean, I agree. I actually, I'm using Charlie's to blame underneath,

01:47but I like California burrito better, which we talked about a month ago when he won the

01:53John Battaglia memorial. So that was on the tapita as well. But like you said, just like

01:59Charlie's to blame going to be vying for that lead. Um, but we've also seen glimpses of him

02:04being able to rate and kind of sit off the pace. So he does have some versatility that I think

02:09will lend really helpful in this race. He's one of the top contenders in this race. Cause he won

02:13the local prep race, the race that kind of leads you right into this race, California, California

02:18burrito final gambit. He broke his maiden, meaning he had his first career victory on February the

02:2515th. He doesn't seem like he's that fast early on though. That's a worry that I have in a race

02:32like this, where is he going to be able to close with the deep closers? And he doesn't really get

02:36an advantage with the, like any, any type of running style early. What do you think about

02:41final gambit? Um, I mean, he's a step up in class here, but, and Cox, Costco's runners often do

02:48excel in these spots. So potential contender, but not one that I'm using in my final selections.

02:53Flying Mohawk is very interesting. Shout out to Jason worth, who I believe is part of the

02:58ownership group here trying to get back to the Kentucky Derby. He had great success last year

03:04with Dornick, who was very, very good winning, uh, after the Kentucky Derby. So flying Mohawk,

03:09he'll actually make his first start on the synthetic. He's been pretty impressive in his

03:13last couple of races. And generally Alexa, it's not always, but a lot of the time horses that

03:19run well on the turf courses, they'll perform pretty well on the synthetic surfaces. Yeah,

03:25it does translate well, that surface change and he has continued to improve every start. I think

03:30he should like the added distance and could be a surprise in here at 15 to one. You do see him on

03:35the time from us pace projector, not that far off of the finishing positions, baby max, the number

03:41six, he's going to add the blinkers, maybe hoping they can just get him a little more focus. He ran

03:46a really good race last time out. He was just second behind California burrito. Do you like

03:50him at all in here? I do like him in here. I've used him in my selections. Um, like you said,

03:55adding the blinkers. So I expect him to be kind of prominent early. Um, and I do think the

04:00equipment chain should sharpen him. Gia Koso, the number seven, he's coming off of a disappointing

04:06performance and he just based on like the speed figures and the ratings that we're looking at,

04:11he hasn't been one of the faster horses in this race. I think he's just going to have to improve

04:15a lot to be competitive here. I wrote the exact same, Gina. I mean, he's just, we need to see so

04:21much more from him and this is a really contentious race. So not a place I'm going to use him in.

04:26Well, the coach D Wayne Lucas, one of the all time great trainers, a hall of fame trainer,

04:31he won the Virginia Derby last week. So he's going to have a horse in the Kentucky Derby.

04:36And we just talked about him in the prior segment. He could have one that comes in from the fair

04:40grounds. He could have another one from Turfway park with innovator. I think we'll at least get

04:45some speed out of this horse, Alexa. I just don't know about the finish from him. Yeah. Innovator

04:50just seems to be in kind of a declining form, which is not something I like to bet on a horse

04:55with. Like you said, going to want to be a part of that early pace, but there's going to be a lot

05:00of horses who want to be a part of the early pace. So for me, I'm going to pass. Poster is the number

05:05nine. He hasn't done a whole lot wrong in his career. He's run four times. He's won three of

05:10them. And in one of his losses, he finished third in the Sam F Davis behind John Hancock and Owen

05:16Almighty. John Hancock's going to be one of the favorites in the Louisiana Derby. Owen Almighty

05:21came back to win the Tampa Bay Derby. So that race finishing third was a pretty good effort

05:25from poster. Yeah. Poster is my top selection. He was undefeated last year in his three starts.

05:30And then like you said, came back and ran really well, um, in the Louisiana Derby. So, or John

05:37behind John Hancock, who's now favored in the Louisiana Derby. So this will be the first start

05:41on the synthetic, but he's also been training here all winter. Uh, so I think he's, he's going to be

05:47in a comfortable spot and is a valid favorite. I like the 10 a little bit here. Maximum promise,

05:52because in the John Battaglia Memorial, he was way behind California burrito and baby max early.

05:58And when those two horses kind of separated maximum promise was one of the only horses,

06:03Alexa, that was actually finishing. And if you look at his prior form, I don't think he has to

06:08be that far back. He doesn't need to be way, way towards the back. So I'm hoping to Tori can get

06:13him more involved early in this race. Maximum promise was third in that last effort. What do

06:17you think about his chances here? Yeah, I mean, he's coming in for trainer Kenny Peak, who won

06:21the Derby and Oaks last year. Um, I think the late running style could benefit from this fast

06:27pace, obviously in the surface. So I do like maximum promise. Curvino the number 11, just to

06:33me feels like one of the longer shots in here. Can you make a case for him? No, I feel the same way

06:38about both these outside horses, Curvino and he's not joking for me. I just, I just don't think

06:43they're quite good enough to compete here. He's not joking. The 12 was good last year on the

06:48synthetic surface up at Woodbine, but his races on the dirt this year, I'm just not sure if he's

06:53in the same form as he was last year.

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