Blended Citizen gets up late to win Turfway's Jeff Ruby Steaks

Blended Citizen emerged near the rail from a five-wide stretch duel to edge out Pony Up in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks, a points-paying stop on the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail.

Neither of the Top 2 finishers were involved early, but after West Coast shipper Mugaritz ran off with a six-length lead into the turn, the pace collapsed and chaos ensued in the stretch.

Blended Citizen won by a neck. Arawak ran fourth with Zanesville fourth, while Mugaritz held on for fifth in the field of 12.

Only twice in the last 10 years has the Spiral/Jeff Ruby winner not gone on to run in the Kentucky Derby, with Animal Kingdom having won as well on the first Saturday in May in 2011. But this year’s renewal awarded points to the Top 4 finishers on a reduced 20-8-4-2 scale, meaning the winner — who isn't yet Triple Crown nominated — would likely need to hit the board in another prep to make the field at Churchill Downs.

A Doug O’Neill-trained son of Proud Citizen, Blended Citizen added blinkers Saturday and completed the 1 1/8 miles on synthetic in 1:50.15 under jockey Kyle Frey. He was 6-1 in a well-matched field. The 3-1 favorite, Hazit, broke last and never threatened.

O'Neill, of course, has two Kentucky Derby wins to his name, with I'll Have Another in 2012 and Nyquist in 2016. In Blended Citizen, he has a relative bargain, an $85,000 purchase who broke his maiden at fifth asking and was third last out in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields, the Northern California track that owns the other domestic Kentucky Derby prep on synthetic.

The colt's sire, Proud Citizen, ran second in the 2002 Derby won by War Emblem. Blended Citizen is owned by Greg Hall and Sayjay Racing LLC.