Fulleffort Surges Late to Win Jeff Ruby Steaks, Earns Kentucky Derby Berth

Brad Cox sent two horses into Saturday's 55th Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park. Only one of them needed to show up.

Fulleffort, the son of Liam's Map owned by St. Elias Stable and Starlight Racing, rallied past a pair of California shippers in mid-stretch and powered home down the center of the track to win the Grade 3, $777,000 race by 2½ lengths, covering the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.94. The victory, worth $449,700 to connections, delivered 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points and a guaranteed spot in the starting gate at Churchill Downs on May 2.

The race unfolded exactly as the closer's connections could have scripted it. California shipper Medici seized command from the gate, posting an opening quarter in :23.18 and a half-mile in :47.16 while running uncontested on the lead into the far turn. Southern California invader Stark Contrast, trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Kazushi Kimura, made a bold three-wide move around the bend to pressure Medici. It was at precisely that moment that Fulleffort, breaking from post 2 under Irad Ortiz Jr., began gathering momentum.

Turning for home, the colt surged through the middle of the track and swept past both Stark Contrast and Medici in one sustained, decisive move.

"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."

The performance was consistent with Fulleffort's trajectory, if more emphatic than anything he had previously produced. Before Saturday, the colt carried a record of four starts with two wins and two seconds, including runner-up finishes in both the Leonatus S. and the John Battaglia Memorial at this same Turfway Park track. He had broken his maiden by five lengths at Keeneland, signaling raw talent, but the Kentucky Derby picture requires more than maiden-breaking horsepower. Saturday's result lifted his overall record to 6: 3-2-1.

The degree of difficulty in the field deserves context. Stark Contrast arrived as a legitimate danger on paper, having won the Zuma Beach (G3) at Santa Anita and the Eddie Logan S. by 2¼ lengths, all three of his career victories coming on turf. The Jeff Ruby Steaks was his first try on a synthetic surface. McCarthy had won this race two years ago with Endlessly, who ran earlier Saturday in the $300,000 TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic. Cox also entered Grade 1 winner Argos in the Jeff Ruby, giving his barn two legitimate runners in a race that awards points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the top five finishers.

Fulleffort rendered the depth of the field academic. The Jeff Ruby Steaks is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby Championship Series, and 100 points at this stage of the calendar amounts to a reservation, not a wait-list position. The Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, worth $5 million, runs May 2 at Churchill Downs.