Turfway Park Picks for Jeff Ruby Steaks Day, 3/21/2026

Key Takeaways:

• Jeff Ruby Steaks Day anchors a strong card of Turfway Park picks, with 13 races and multiple stakes, creating competitive betting races from start to finish.
• Tapeta form and adaptability remain key themes, with several contenders either returning to the surface or trying it for the first time with pedigree hints in their favor.
• In races like the Rushaway, those with good speed figures, like Rhythm Lady, hold a chance to control terms at a price.
• Proven all-weather form is a major asset in the Kentucky Cup Classic, where runners like Endlessly and Mercante bring established credentials over the surface.
• The Bourbonette Oaks sets up around early speed, with Resplendence’s front-running profile offering a clear tactical edge in a race lacking pace.

The road to the Kentucky Derby returns to Florence, Kentucky, for the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) on Saturday, March 21. The $777,000 race, the richest of the Turfway season, basically guarantees the top two finishers a bid to the Kentucky Derby, and it has had a rising profile on Derby day in recent years, even though it is run on the Tapeta.

It is also the anchor of a full day of big fields and exciting racing. Other major races on the Saturday card at Turfway include the Bourbonette Oaks, a 50-point Kentucky Oaks prep, the Kentucky Cup Classic (G3) for older horses, the Latonia for older filly and mare route horses, the Animal Kingdom for sophomore sprinters, and the Rushaway for sophomore routers who may be pointing to more ambitious campaigns in the summer.

All in all, the Turfway card features 13 races on Saturday. With competitive and big fields all day long, as well as another flagship day at Fair Grounds, it’s a great day to watch and wager on horse racing! You can watch every race across the country and get up-to-the-minute information at FanDuel TV, and you can get past performances and bet on every race online through FanDuel.

Saturday’s weather forecast in Florence, Kentucky, couldn’t be better, with warm weather and sunny skies. However, scratches can happen for any reason, and an informed bettor is a successful bettor. So, make sure to check the scratches before placing your bets, just in case they affect the pace or class balances.

Turfway Park Top Picks

These are the top tips for undercard stakes during for Saturday’s Jeff Ruby Steaks card at Turfway Park:

Race 8: Rushaway Stakes, 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta - Rhythm Lady and Bull by the Horns

FanDuel odds: 8-1 and 9-2

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It’s an interesting choice, putting a filly against the boys in the Rushaway instead of in an Oaks prep over the same course and distance on the same day. But it may well work out for Mike Maker with Rhythm Lady (12-1). She was a no-show in her sprint debut in January after a tough start and a wide trip, but things went much better when she made the top and opened up to win by eight lengths on February 25, putting up a speed figure that makes her competitive with the males here. Especially since Valiant, a Brad Cox trainee likely to take a lot of money, hasn’t quite made it to the lead in her two starts over a Tapeta surface? That leaves Rhythm Lady likely to take initiative – at a nifty price – for a barn that wins a lot in stakes races at Turfway.

Bull by the Horns (9-2) was overmatched in the Fountain of Youth (G2) last out but now drops back to a more reasonable class level, an ungraded race far from the glitz of the Kentucky Derby trail. That can lay the foundation for improvement. The question is Tapeta – he has only ever raced over the dirt at Gulfstream and Tampa Bay Downs. But, his second dam won over the all-weather at Arlington, suggesting some promise. Pacewise, he can get a good stalking trip from a clean outside gate under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez. And, Saffie Joseph, Jr. has been excellent with his shippers this year.

Race 10: Kentucky Cup Classic (G3), 1 ⅛ miles on the Tapeta - Endlessly and Mercante

FanDuel odds: 12-1 and 7-2

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Endlessly (12-1) hasn’t won in about two years – but on the other hand, Endlessly hasn’t won since he raced on an all-weather track. He won both the El Camino Real on the Golden Gate Tapeta and then the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway in 2024, then split the field in the Kentucky Derby, and has raced on the turf ever since. He has grazed at lower rungs of exotics now and then, but this time he gets back on an all-weather surface for the first time since that Jeff Ruby win. He is unexposed on the Tapeta, and with a good chance of a contested pace, all the speed just may come back to him over a track that tends to play good and fair. Endlessly has every chance to be a nice Michael McCarthy price horse.

Mercante (7-2) won this race last year, stalking the pace and taking over by a length. He ran another couple of nice races after that, including a runner-up finish in the Turf Classic (G1) on the Kentucky Derby undercard, where he missed by less than a length. His form tailed off late in the year, but he has gotten a nice freshening and has been working regularly for trainer Brian Knippenberg, a sharp local who knows how to get a horse to perform off a layoff. He should get a clean tracking trip from this spot, and may get first run on a likely pace battle.

Race 11: Bourbonette Oaks, 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta - Resplendence and Maximum Offer

FanDuel odds: 5-1 and 9-2

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Lone speed is nice when you can get it, and despite there being 12 horses in this field, there’s not much early gas. The exception is Resplendence (5-1). It took her a while to figure things out – but she looked good in her third start, on the dirt at Horseshoe Indianapolis last fall, when she finally tried setting the pace. She has since wired two straight races at Turfway Park. Jockey Alberto Burgos is a Turfway regular who doesn’t have a lot of big-race experience, but he knows the track, and he has been in the irons of this Paulo Lobo trainee for both of her victories. These under-the-radar connections should help the price even with the likelihood of a perfect trip. And, though the rail draw is often a concern? She drew the fence in a big field for both her maiden win and the Cincinnati Trophy, and got her picture taken both times.

Maximum Offer (9-2) tries Tapeta for the first time. But, she has already been competitive in a Kentucky Oaks prep before, finishing second beaten only a length in the Martha Washington at Oaklawn, her first stakes try. In that race and her maiden win just before she stalked close to the pace, a running style that should work well in this spot – and especially in her maiden win, she stalked a dawdling pace and was able to engage in time, fight, and get up by a neck to win. She did that under jockey Emmanuel Esquivel, who returns to the irons for this, and could work the winning trip if Resplendence can’t get all the way away.

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