The Grade 3 – Jeff Ruby Steaks from Turfway Park had 34 points available for Kentucky Derby contenders. The nine furlong event was on the Turfway Park synthetic surface and drew a full field of 12. The 5-1 morning-line favorite HAZIT trained by Todd Pletcher was trying the poly track for the first time. It wasn’t meant to be this Saturday for Todd Pletcher at Turfway. Instead the Kentucky-bred shipping in from Northern California after finishing 3rd in the El Camino Real Derby, BLENDED CITIZEN showed his will and guts to do one of the most difficult things in racing, rally on the inside in deep stretch. His determination and a great job finishing the race by jockey Kyle Frey, got BLENDED CITIZEN to the winners’circle at odds of 3-1.
I have a feeling that the numbers from this race are not going to come back very fast. As the final time was average. A couple things to note, I think the slow fourth quarter had to do with MUGARITZ opening up a wide margin and tiring rapidly. I came to this conclusion because Blended Citizen ran the final furlong in :12.06. He could be one of those horses that just consistently pounds along at one speed. Something that can be very beneficial at long distances. If he can run at that pace for 10 furlongs, he would have a definite shot in the Kentucky Derby. I still think there are questions yet to be answered but it was a very interesting outcome considering those factors.
Another note, favorite HAZIT stumbled badly at the start spotting the field about three lengths and was not a factor at all. BLENDED CITIZEN and runner-up PONY UP were co-second choices in the race at odds of 6-1. Both raced in a prolonged drive.
At this point, I do think that we need to consider BLENDED CITIZEN a contender in his next Derby prep and if he proves he has the good on dirt. I would put him in my official contender list.
Road to the Kentucky Derby 2018 