Endlessly Dominates Jeff Ruby Steaks; Will Skip Derby

Amerman Racing's homebred Endlessly  made short work of the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) field, thundering home a powerful winner of the $700,000 feature race of the Turfway Park meet March 23.

After the Jeff Ruby, trainer Michael McCarthy reported Endlessly would indeed be in the starting gate that first Saturday in May, but not in the race one would expect after his 100-point Road to the Kentucky Derby victory.

"We're looking at the American Turf (Stakes)," McCarthy said. The American Turf Stakes (G2T), staged May 4 on the Kentucky Derby (G1) undercard at Churchill Downs, is at 1 1/16 miles on the turf for 3-year-olds. "(The Jeff Ruby Steaks) was a really solid effort but I think his best days down the road are on turf."

The son of Oscar Performance  , unraced on the dirt, is nearly undefeated on turf and synthetic surfaces, with his only blemish being an eighth-place finish in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T). He opened his sophomore campaign last month with an authoritative win in Golden Gate Fields' El Camino Real Derby in his first spin over the synthetic, earning an automatic berth to the Preakness Stakes (G1) in the process.

Although Endlessly will not be participating in the Run for the Roses, trainer Larry Demeritte declared Jeff Ruby runner-up West Saratoga  was on to Louisville. West Saratoga picked up 50 points for his second-place finish, pushing him into fourth on the Derby leaderboard with 67 points.

"We had a lot of confidence in this horse coming into this because we keep seeing him go forward with every race and in his training. I still don't think he hit his peak yet," Demeritte said.

D. Wayne Lukas trainee Seize the Grey  completed the trifecta, collecting 25 points for a total of 27.

Piloted by Umberto Rispoli, who flew out from California to partner the colt on Saturday, Endlessly sat several lengths off a spirited pace as the field raced down the backstretch. Lucky Jeremy  forced the tempo on the front end, carving out splits of :23.33, :48.57, and 1:13. Rispoli set Endlessly down to work past the six-furlong marker and the colt glided into contention, circling wide into the turn before drawing away by four lengths.

"I just remained patient with the pace in front of me," Rispoli said. "This was his second start on the Tapeta and I think he handled it much better today (than in the El Camino Real Derby). He was able to get into a much better rhythm. In the stretch he was just so powerful and continued to go strongly through the wire."

The betting favorite, Endlessly ($4.88) was timed in 1:50.15 for the 1 1/8 miles. He clocked his final furlong in a sharp :12.22.

Produced from the unraced Langfuhr mare Dream Fuhrever, Endlessly is by another Amerman homebred in Oscar Performance. While campaigned by the Amermans, Oscar Performance landed four grade 1 wins, including a victory in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) and registered earnings of more than $2.3 million. The son of Kitten's Joy stands at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington for a fee of $25,000. He is represented by graded stakes winners Red Carpet Ready  and Tumbarumba  in 2024.

Video: Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3)

Former Claimer Springs the Upset in Bourbonette Oaks

Everland 's rail-skimming victory in the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks punctuated a career-best race meet for trainer Eric Foster. The Arrogate filly, one of the longer shots on the board, went from a former claimer to a potential Kentucky Oaks (G1) starter.

"We're leading this meet right now and it was never something my wife and I had thought about going in," Foster said of his recent success in the current Turfway meet, at which his stable has secured 15 wins at an impressive 19% strike rate. "We know our horses would run well but we've had a better go here than even we expected."

Claimed by Foster for $30,000 four starts back, Everland collected 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks for her 1 1/4-length triumph.

Winnable  was runner-up by a half-length over Alpine Princess  in third.

Everland ($24.10) raced the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.36. Out of the Tapit   mare Ever Changing, she is owned by the partnership of Foster Family Racing, William Wargel, R.K. Eckrich Racing, and Maxis Stable.

"It's exciting to win," Foster said. "I tell everybody it's still exciting for us to win a $5,000 claimer. Of course, we're going to run in the Oaks but I'm just so excited to win this race."

Video: Bourbonette Oaks (BT)

Undercard Stakes

In the first of five stakes races on the Saturday Turfway card, Yutaka Enterprises' Okiro  upset 6-5 favorite Valentine Candy  for a 2 1/4 length score in the $235,000 Animal Kingdom Stakes. Trained by Jose Garoffalo, the Gulfstream Park ship-in became the first stakes winner for his sire, WinStar Farm's Yoshida  . The 3-year-old colt was timed in 1:09.8 for the six furlongs and returned $19.82 for a $2 win ticket.

Amerman Racing scored earlier on the card when their colt Trikari  netted his first stakes triumph in the $249,670 Rushaway Stakes for 3-year-olds. Another son of the Amerman's former runner Oscar Performance, the owners acquired Trikari for $27,500 out of the 2022 Ocala Breeders' October Yearling Sale. Trikari ($10.82), trained by Graham Motion, prevailed by a neck in a tight finish over Footprint  and favored Twirling Point  in a final time of 1:44.79 for the 1 1/16 miles.

Video: Animal Kingdom S. (BT)

Video: Rushaway S. (BT)