Just Ruthless is coming off an impressive win in her Turfway Park debut. She now looks to rule supreme in her stakes debut in a large and well-matched field for the $175,000 Cincinnati Trophy on Friday night at the Florence, Ky., track.
The Cincinnati Trophy has drawn an overflow field of 13 3-year-old fillies, of which 12 are permitted to start. This one-mile tilt offers qualifying points toward the May 2 Kentucky Oaks. The Cincinnati Trophy, which awards points to the top five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale, is the local prep toward the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks on Turfway’s marquee March 22 card. That 1 1/16-mile race awards points on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis.
Of the 13 entrants Friday, seven own only a maiden win, including morning-line favorite Girl Math. The three prior stakes winners – Somethinabouther, Pure Majestic, and Foxtastic – each have questions to answer. Just Ruthless and Admit are the only entrants with wins above the maiden level on Turfway’s Tapeta, with both coming in allowance/optional-claiming races at this one-mile distance.
Just Ruthless, by multi-surface sire Justify, won her maiden in her second career start in November at Churchill Downs. Going 1 1/16 miles on a sloppy, sealed dirt track, she led early before kicking clear by six lengths. Going a one-turn mile on a fast dirt track next out, she raced at a hot pace early before giving way to finish fifth behind the promising Book’em.
Just Ruthless bounced back for a much more professional win Dec. 26. Breaking from the rail in a field of 12 at Turfway, she sat back through the opening half, made an outside move, and kicked clear to win by 4 1/4 lengths with a career-best 71 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I really liked the way she showed her class,” said Destin Heath, who trains the Rock Ridge Racing homebred. “Breaking from the one-hole, being able to sit back, angle out around horses, and kick clear – to show a different dimension, that really showed she was maturing and wanted to turn into a racehorse.”
That different dimension may be key Friday night. There is plenty of speed in this race, as – working from the inside out – Just Ruthless, White Rocks, Pure Majestic, Salt, Admit, Presha, and Foxtastic have all shown they can win from on or just off the lead. Just Ruthless, who will again have Gabriel Saez in the irons, has drawn toward the inside in a big field, breaking from post 2 this time, which Heath said is fine by him.
“I’ll watch some of the races earlier in the day to see how the track is playing,” Heath said. “I think she’s versatile enough that we can make that adjustment on the fly and go from there.”
Admit made her first two starts on dirt at Horseshoe Indianapolis. In her second outing, she was third going a mile, beaten a half-length by Runnin N Gunnin, who last weekend won the Sunland Oaks. Admit came back to win a pair of one-mile races at Turfway, defeating White Rocks in her maiden in December before coming back to win an allowance with an 80 Beyer Speed Figure, tops in this field.
Girl Math would appreciate some pace to rally into, as would Somethinabouther. The latter took the Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes in November at Woodbine, but the only graded winner in the field will need to overcome the layoff as well as take a step forward from a figure perspective.
The other two stakes winners in this field need to answer questions about surface and distance. Foxtastic won her maiden in the Presque Isle Debutante at 6 1/2 furlongs on synthetic, but she faded to fifth after leading in the 1 1/16-mile Mazarine. Pure Majestic won the Selima Stakes on a muddy, sealed dirt track in September at Laurel.
Also-eligible Wondrous bears a look if she draws in at a value price. Although her debut win at Turfway came at six furlongs, she is bred to stretch out as the daughter of classic sire Uncle Mo is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winning router Maxfield. She also would benefit from a strong early pace.
Friday’s program and Saturday’s card both have a first post of 5:55 p.m. Saturday’s feature is the $175,000 John Battaglia Memorial for 3-year-olds, awarding Kentucky Derby points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. It is the local prep toward the Grade 3, $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 22, with points awarded on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale.
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