It remains to be seen whether any of the 3-year-olds in the $175,000 John Battaglia Memorial on Saturday night at Turfway Park can emerge as legitimate Kentucky Derby candidates. But with the spring classic 10 weeks away, continuing to perform well and punching a ticket to a bigger-points prep down the line would be a fine accomplishment.
Turfway’s first two-turn stakes for sophomores of 2026 was the one-mile Leonatus on Jan. 17, and the first two finishers, Street Beast and Fulleffort, head the field for Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile Tapeta race. The Battaglia, in which 13 were entered but only 12 may start, awards Derby qualifying points on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis. It is the final local prep toward the Grade 3, $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 21, which awards points on a scale of 100-50-25-15-10 and which has been a productive prep race.
Street Beast, trained by Ben Colebrook, made his Tapeta debut in the Leonatus after facing solid foes on turf throughout his juvenile campaign, which included a seven-length victory in the Juvenile Mile at Kentucky Downs and a fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. In the Leonatus, he caught a flyer from the outside post in the field of eight to get over several paths in the short run into the first turn.
He then rated kindly for Luan Machado, who has a return mount Saturday, and was relatively unchallenged through moderate early fractions of 24.15 seconds, 48.54, and 1:14.53. He had plenty in the tank for a handy one-length victory over Fulleffort, who was closing after an imperfect trip.
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Street Beast has the rail Saturday, and he may not have as easy a time of it on the front end. Aces Honor held on to win the Texas Turf Mile last out after setting a pressured pace, although trainer Ethan West opined that he doesn’t need the lead.
“He’s the type of horse who keeps improving. . . . It was an interesting scenario for him being in a four-horse field in the Texas Turf Mile,” West told track publicity. “He opened up on the field around the turn. Luckily, he was able to hang on and get the job done. He doesn’t need the lead, but should be close to the action early.”
Two Out Hero, drawn outside in his first start since finishing third in the Grade 1 Summer last September at Woodbine, has also shown speed. He was a powerhouse debut winner on Woodbine’s synthetic main track before winning the Soaring Free sprinting on turf last summer.
Attfield, winner of the Central Park going 1 1/16 miles on turf last November at Aqueduct, is likely to assume a stalking role, assuring those up front stay honest.
More pace up front would suit Fulleffort, who was impressive winning a maiden race at a mile at Kentucky Downs and an allowance at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Keeneland last year. In the Leonatus, the colt was bumped leaving the gate and trailed around the first turn. Closing into Street Beast’s tepid pace, he advanced along the inside around the far turn under Vincent Cheminaud, then split horses in the drive to come outside of Street Beast with a solid rally.
“We thought it was a little short on distance, so he’s going to get another sixteenth of a mile this weekend. If all goes well there, then he’ll get a mile and an eighth at the end of March,” trainer Brad Cox said of the Jeff Ruby. “He doesn’t have a lot of early gate speed. He has to get rolling late – further, the better. He’ll probably benefit from some pace in front of him.
“I think last time we were in it to win it, but he was up against it a little bit and made a good showing, and here we are.”
Also emerging from the Leonatus is Great White, who in his first try around two turns made up some ground to be fifth.
Others in the field have dabbled in dirt Derby preps. Stop the Car will be racing on synthetic for the first time – although he trained on it last year with Brendan Walsh’s local string. He most recently finished seventh in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds.
Baytown Dreamer was third in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park but was most recently an out-of-touch 11th in the Grade 3 Southwest.
Turfway mile maiden winner Kilo Tango is another closer who would appreciate pace. Turfway sprint debut winner Steel Imperium, turf maiden winner Time for Money, and the maiden Maximus Prime complete the main body of the field. Small Town, a debut winner sprinting at Turfway, is the also-eligible.
– additional reporting by David Grening
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