(Fulleffort wins the G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park on Saturday / Photo by Coady Media)

From the Turfway Park Media Team / Kevin Kerstein:

FULLEFFORT UNLEASHES LATE RALLY TO WIN $777,000 JEFF RUBY STEAKS

FLORENCE, Ky. (Saturday, March 21, 2026) – St. Elias Stable and Starlight Racing’s Fulleffort surged down the center of Turfway Park Racing & Gaming’s stretch to win Saturday’s 55th running of the $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (Grade III), on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Championship Series.

Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and trained by Brad Cox, Fulleffort completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.94 while earning 100 qualifying points and a spot in the starting gate for the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (GI).

It was a good start to the Jeff Ruby Steaks with California-invader Medici going directly to the front while setting an opening quarter-mile in a sharp :23.18. He carved an uncontested half-mile in :47.16 and maintained that lead going into the far turn where Stark Contrastmade a bold, three-wide move along with Fulleffort unleashing his best stride.

In mid-stretch, Fulleffort surged down the middle of the track and powered past Stark Contrast and pacesetting Medici for a 2 ½-length victory.

“He has a strong closing kick,” Ortiz said. “I knew he’d come with his best run and he handled stretching out in distance really well. I think he’s continuing to improve.”

“He’s a hard-knocking horse that continues to improve,” assistant trainer Trace Messina said. “He does everything we ask of him and trained really well into this race. We’ll talk it over with Brad and the team to decide next steps, but we’re very happy for everyone involved to get the job done today.”

Sent off as the 9-5 favorite, Fullefort returned his backers $5.82

 

Stop the Car finished fourth, followed by Argos, Brave Force, Two Out Hero, Black Hornet, Turf Star, Maximus Prime,Baytown Dreamer. Chaos Agent was pulled up around the far turn and walked back to his barn.

Fulleffort is a gray or roan colt by Liam’s Map out of the Awesome Again mare Callmethesqueeze. He was bred in Kentucky by Athens Woods.

With his victory in the Jeff Ruby Steaks, Fulleffort earned his connections $449,700 while improving his overall record to 6-3-2-1.

The Jeff Ruby Steaks awards the top five finishers qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale toward a spot in the starting gate in the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (GI).