Hazit tries all-weather surface in Jeff Ruby Steaks

Mike Battaglia’s morning line for the Jeff Ruby Steaks this Saturday shows a wide-open race with intriguing opportunity for bettors among the dozen contenders.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Hazit is co-favored with Ride a Comet at value odds of 5-1. After breaking his maiden on debut with a front-running score at Saratoga, Hazit jumped right into Grade 1 competition, finishing off the board in the Champagne Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Pletcher gave him more than three months off after those efforts, and he returned Feb. 18 to put in a good runner-up performance, beaten just a length in an optional allowance at Tampa Bay after setting the pace through the first four of seven furlongs.

Hazit is campaigned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. Aron Wellman, president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, was happy with the comeback race.

“He ran a really, really good second at Tampa going seven-eighths where he sort of took all the heat all the way around there and just got nailed on the wire, essentially. He ran hard and seems to have come out of it in good order. He’s breezed twice well since.

“We’ve always had in the back of our minds that he might ultimately be better on the turf. Seeing as though the Turfway surface is Polytrack and can be a bit of a ‘between’ surface for horses that handle the dirt but might be a little turfy, we thought this would be an appropriate spot to try him in one of these meaningful Derby prep races. We’re not sure he’s a Derby type, necessarily, but at this time of year it was the most prudent option to try to stretch him out and see if he can make some noise.

“Quite frankly, we’re not looking at this as a Derby prep race or to qualify him with points. If he happens to pop up and do something good and earn some points and come out of it well and train well, then maybe we’d put another opportunity for him to qualify for the Derby into play. But for now this is a stand-alone race that we felt was the best opportunity for [his development].”

At the other end of the odds spectrum are two runners at 15-1, Arawak, trained by Wesley Ward, and Dreamer’s Point, trained by Ian Wilkes. The Jeff Ruby Steaks will be the first all-weather start for Dreamer’s Point, who came from well off the pace on the Ellis Park dirt to win at first asking. He raced closer to the lead in his next start, finishing third at Keeneland, and followed with a third and a second at Churchill Downs, all on the dirt. Wilkes gave him some time off after the Churchill meet ended in November and brought him back Feb. 15 to a fourth-place finish at Tampa Bay, again on dirt. He has been training steadily at Palm Meadows, with his final three-furlong breeze for the Jeff Ruby clocked at 1:02.30 last Sunday.

"He's doing well, had a good, solid work [Sunday],” said Wilkes. “Last time he ran into a really nice horse [Magnum Moon, now two-for-two], but I think it was a tightener and he got a lot out of it. This is a three-year-old stake with some money involved and I think the horse fits for this."