Maker Continues Jeff Ruby Dominance With Field Pass

The name of Turfway Park's signature stakes race has changed over the years, ranging from the Lane's End to the Spiral to the current Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3), but one constant has remained during the track's synthetic era: a high success rate for trainer Mike Maker.

The leading trainer at Turfway on 22 occasions, Maker won the race for the sixth time March 14 when Field Pass rallied from a stalking position to defeat favored Invader, trained by Wesley Ward, by a neck. Fancy Liquor, another Maker trainee, was two lengths back in third.

It was Maker's second consecutive victory in the Jeff Ruby after Somelikeithotbrown last year, and his fourth from the last five runnings. His six wins date back to 2006, the first year the race was not run on dirt.

"I try to bring some of my better turf horses for the Ruby. It’s paid off over the years," said the trainer.

The $217,010 race gave 3-year-old Field Pass his second straight win in as many starts in 2020, following a neck triumph in the Dania Beach Stakes Feb. 1 at Gulfstream Park. Last year the son of Lemon Drop Kid  went 1-for-6 for Kirk Wycoff's Three Diamonds Farm, among his losses a second in the With Anticipation Stakes (G3T) on the grass at Saratoga Race Course.

The only time he was worse than fourth in his career came when he raced on dirt, a try that resulted in a distant sixth-place finish at Churchill Downs Oct. 27.

Pointing to that loss, Maker seemed reluctant to pursue the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), to which the Jeff Ruby provided qualifying points on a 20-8-4-2 scale. He mentioned the $500,000 American Turf (G2T) on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs as a possible spot, pending a discussion with the Wycoff family.

Field Pass was not an initial nominee to the Triple Crown, though he could still be made so at a cost of $6,000 by March 30. Thereafter to become eligible requires a supplemental nomination due at the time of each race's entry: $200,000 for the Kentucky Derby, $150,000 for the Preakness Stakes (G1), and $50,000 for the Belmont Stakes (G1).

Field Pass, who returned $9.60 for a $2 win bet, raced 1 1/8 miles on the fast synthetic surface at Turfway in 1:49.34 under Irad Ortiz Jr., the Eclipse Award-winning rider of 2018-19. The jockey also teamed with Maker to take the Maxim Crane Works Bourbonette Oaks with Queen of God and the last race, a maiden contest, with Have a Plan.

"When I asked him, it took some time to get going," Ortiz said of Field Pass. "It wasn’t easy to catch him (Invader), but he got the job done."

Invader, backed to 6-5 after winning two earlier races on Turfway's synthetic surface, including the John Battaglia Memorial, was gritty in defeat but could not turn back the winner's stretch bid after pressing the early pace. He was a bit aggressive chasing early leader Fancy Liquor through fractions of :23.76, :47.78 and 1:11.72, but still proved tough to pass after he had taken the lead with an eighth of a mile remaining.

The winner, bred by Mark Brown Grier in Maryland, is out of the Runaway Groom mare Only Me, who won all eight of her starts on turf. Her other foal to race, You Must Chill (by Winchill), has one win on grass and another on dirt from 12 starts, with earnings of $81,052.

Field Pass was purchased as a yearling for $37,000 by Owls Bloodstock from the Becky Davis consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings sale in 2018. He has made $291,210.

Video: Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3)

Queen of God Takes Bourbonette

One race before the Jeff Ruby, Queen of God reigned over 10 other 3-year-old fillies in the $150,000 Bourbonette, a qualifier for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs.

Fourth down the backstretch, the Paynter  filly reeled in leader and graded stakes winner Laura's Light, took command shortly in midstretch, and lasted for by three-quarters of a length over Pass the Plate after drifting outwardly late. She raced a mile on Turfway's Polytrack in 1:37.77. She paid $15.60 for a $2 wager.

Pass the Plate rallied from eighth to grab the runner-up position, a length and a half in front of Impeccable Style in third. Laura's Light, the 4-5 public choice, ran fourth.

The Bourbonette provided Oaks qualifying points on a 20-8-4-2 basis to its top-four finishers, thought it unclear what impact, if any, the race has a true prep for that race. The winner is unraced on dirt, the surface on which the Oaks is contested, and the runner-up ran sixth in the Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in her only dirt start.

Queen of God was not an early nominee to the Oaks, though she can be made a late nomination for $1,500 by April 11. 

Maker plans to consult with the owner, Leonard Rivero's Winners Circle Racing Stable, before determining her next race. Queen of God won the $60,000 Mrs. Presidentress Stakes, a non-black-type race restricted to horses that had started for a claiming price of $35,000 or less, at Gulfstream Park Feb. 17

"She obviously ran terrific. It looks like she is on the improve," he said.

Bred in Kentucky by Respite Farm, Queen of God is out of the Meadowlake mare Chapala. She was purchased for $20,000 by ADR Racing Stable from the consignment of Blue River Bloodstock to the Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. 

Video: Maxim Crane Works Bourbonette Oaks (BT)