Saturday’s Turfway Park card is the track’s annual showcase, headlined by Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown hopefuls in the Grade 3 $700,000 Jeff Ruby. The entire jackpot pick 6 sequence will be stakes offerings, which therein includes an all-stakes pick 5 and all-stakes pick 4.

Turfway Park | Race 7 | $250K Animal Kingdom
#4 Eye Witness has speed short or long, and out of a half-sister to top-class dasher Sharp Humor, there’s no doubt Wesley Ward can get this one razor-sharp for the turn-back to 6 furlongs. #7 New York Thunder is the obvious other top player off back-to-back wins to open his career at Gulfstream on turf and Tapeta. Race is laced with layoff horses, so the time away not a concern for both.

Turfway Park | Race 8 | $250K Rushaway
Strong third by #3 Worthington 2 starts back on turf was underscored when top-class Major Dude and Candidate came back to run 1-2 in the Kitten’s Joy Stakes. Draw a line through the debacle at Tampa and he’s the horse to beat for a Mike Maker barn that excels in Turfway stakes. #12 Moon Landing had a poorly timed ride in the John Battaglia Memorial and makes a huge jockey upgrade to John Velazquez; threatens from tough post. Deep race also includes Rachel Alexandra’s kid bro #1 Itzos, ever-dangerous Gulfstream turf-to-Turfway-synthetic mover #4 Santorini for Todd Pletcher and the sharp local debut winner #9 Midnight Rising. Get some depth in this high-quality set of options.

Turfway Park | Race 9 | $250K Latonia
With a hot pace projected, I’m looking for closers to benefit, namely #2 Candy Raid and #8 Kate’s Kingdom. Candy Raid (20-1 ML) ran the race of her life in a blowout win in the Bourbonette Oaks on this card a year ago (pictured above) and could rebound in pricy style off a dull last effort. Kate’s Kingdom upgraded to Irad Ortiz Jr. off a series of solid local stakes efforts here all winter. She’ll be trucking late. I’m rolling with this late-running pair and taking my chances.

Turfway Park | Race 10 | $300K Kentucky Cup Classic
Again we’re looking at a hot pace, especially for 1-1/8 miles on Tapeta. #4 Leblon (15-1 ML) just feels like the prototypical Mike Maker veteran claim that runs out a stakes streak. His two Turfway efforts since the claim are big improvements over prior form and set him up for an upset on the rise. His pedigree is long-winded and we’ve seen these Maker claims excel the farther they go over the years. #9 Santin is a class standout from his turf form; we’ll see how that translates to Tapeta. His bullet work over the track gives some confidence, but he was beaten as the favorite in his 2022 return off a layoff.

Turfway Park | Race 11 | $300K Bourbonette Oaks
#5 Botanical will be one of the shortest prices on the card off 3 consecutive local wins by nearly 22 combined lengths. Most will land on a single here of the Brad Cox trainee. I do have an interest in #6 Always at Ease (30-1 ML), however. She’s been running shorter than her pedigree suggest and could love the stretch-out. She’s by versatile sire Twirling Candy and her damsire Hold Me Back won the Spiral here over 9F in his heyday. Trainer Keith Desormeaux is known for blowing up the toteboard. Get this one home over the filly everyone else singles and you’re looking at a big-time payoff. At a minimum, look at the exacta intra-race.

Turfway Park | Race 12 | $700K Jeff Ruby
Watching his 2 local races this winter has me all over #11 Wadsworth with absolutely no hesitation. The Brad Cox trainee was sharp enough to take advantage of the rail in a romping maiden win flashing speed; then professional enough to settle, overcome traffic trouble for a half-mile and then just coast home with ease in allowance company. Think he wins this for fun and is the single. #1 Major Dude would be the alternate consideration, but I'm flying solo.

The Tickets:

Pick 6: 4,7 with 3,12,1,4,9 with 2,8 with 4,9 with 5,9 with 11 = $16 for $.20 play

Pick 5: 3,12,1,4,9 with 2,8 with 4,9 with 5,9 with 11 = $20 for $.50 play

Pick 4: 2,8 with 4,9 with 5,9 with 11 = $4 for $.50 play