$700K Jeff Ruby heads Turfway’s 19 stakes during winter/spring meet
Turfway Park press release by Kevin Kerstein (Coady photo)
Total of $3.725 Million Across 19 Stakes On Tap During Meet
FLORENCE, Ky. (Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023) – The Turfway Park Holiday Meet continues to unfold in a flurry of festive fervor but as the calendar turns, the Winter/Spring Meet will maintain high purses with a lucrative stakes schedule led by the March 23, $700,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (Grade III), a pivotal stop on the Road to Kentucky Derby 150.
During the 52-day stand, the Winter/Spring Meet will showcase a total of 19 stakes races. The highlight is annually Jeff Ruby Steaks Day, featuring six stakes contests, including the 53rd running of the 1 1/8-mile Jeff Ruby Steaks. Supporting stakes events on the card will be the $300,000 TwinSpires Ky Cup Classic (Listed), the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks – a Road to the Kentucky Oaks Championship Series Race, the $250,000 Animal Kingdom Stakes, the $250,000 Latonia Stakes and the $250,000 Rushaway Stakes.
The Road to the Kentucky Derby’s first stop at the Florence oval will be three weeks earlier on Saturday, March 2 for the $150,000 John Battaglia Memorial (Listed). One day prior, fillies on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks will be in action for the $150,000 Cincinnati Trophy Stakes.
Another spotlight race will be the 26th running of the Jan. 13, $125,000 Likely Exchange Stakes, which will mark the final opportunity in the “Make Your Mare” series, in partnership with Claiborne Farm. The top 3 finishers of the race will receive $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 in credits towards a future stallion mating at the farm. The other two races in the series are the $125,000 Holiday Inaugural and the $125,000 My Charmer Stakes.
Similar to the Holiday Meet, racing will continue on a Wednesday-Saturday schedule with daily first posts of 5:55 p.m. (all times Eastern), except Jeff Ruby Steaks Day, which will start at 12:45 p.m.
Reservations and more information about live racing and gaming from Turfway Park can be found on www.Turfway.com.
Below is the full stakes schedule (purse totals all include funds from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund):
| Date | Race Name | Running | Age | Distance | Purse |
| Saturday, Jan. 6 | The Turfway Preview | 29 | 3yo | 6 1/2F | $125,000 |
| Saturday, Jan. 13 | The Likely Exchange | 26 | FM 4&up | 1M | $125,000 |
| Saturday, Jan 20 | The Leonatus Stakes | 34 | 3yo | 1M | $125,000 |
| Saturday, Jan. 27 | The Wishing Well | 31 | FM 4&up | 6 1/2F | $125,000 |
| Saturday, Feb. 3 | The Forego | 40 | 4yo and up | 6 1/2F | $125,000 |
| Saturday, Feb. 10 | The Valdale | 37 | F 3yo | 6 1/2F | $125,000 |
| Saturday, Feb. 17 | The Dust Commander | 33 | 4yo and up | 1 1/16M | $125,000 |
| Saturday, Feb. 24 | The Wintergreen | 38 | FM 4&up | 1M | $125,000 |
| Friday, March 1 | The Cincinnati Trophy | 42 | F 3yo | 1M | $150,000 |
| Saturday, March 2 | The John Battaglia Memorial (Listed) | 42 | 3yo | 1 1/16M | $150,000 |
| Saturday, March 9 | The Big Daddy AKA The Richard S. Leigh Memorial | 3 | 4yo and up | 6F | $125,000 |
| Saturday, March 16 | The Queen | 28 | FM 4&up | 6F | $125,000 |
| Saturday, March 23 | The Latonia | 42 | FM 4&up | 1 1/16M | $250,000 |
| Saturday, March 23 | The TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic (Listed) | 24 | 4yo and up | 1 1/8M | $300,000 |
| Saturday, March 23 | The Jeff Ruby Steaks (GIII) | 53 | 3yo | 1 1/8M | $700,000 |
| Saturday, March 23 | The Rushaway | 37 | 3yo | 1 1/16M | $250,000 |
| Saturday, March 23 | The Bourbonette Oaks (Listed) | 42 | F 3yo | 1 1/16M | $300,000 |
| Saturday, March 23 | The Animal Kingdom | 38 | 3yo | 6F | $250,000 |
| Saturday, March 30 | The Serena’s Song | 3 | F 3yo | 6F | $125,000 |
