Racing Roundtable: Louisiana Derby (G2), Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3), Good Cheer's dominance and more
Final Gambit wins the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park. (Photo by Coady Media / Credit to Christine Hayden)
March 26th, 2025
Ashley Anderson, James Scully, and Vance Hanson evaluate the winners of the Louisiana Derby (G2) and Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) on the Road to the Kentucky Derby (G1), as well as Good Cheer's unbeaten record coming out of the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2).
The Steve Asmussen-trained Tiztastic added 100 points to his total on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with his upset in the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds over the weekend. The Tiz the Law colt boasts 119 points total at the top of the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, followed by Jeff Ruby Steaks hero Final Gambit, a Brad Cox trainee who won his stakes debut on Saturday and collected 100 points for the feat.
On the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, Cox pupil Good Cheer remained unbeaten in her sixth career start when recording a 3 1/2-length win in the 1 1/16-mile Fair Grounds Oaks. She will stretch out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time in the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs and is firmly planted atop the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 145 points.
Turfway Park hosted a Kentucky Oaks prep the same day as the Fair Grounds Oaks, and Will Walden-trained Bless the Broken secured a 2 3/4-length victory in the Bourbonette Oaks, a 50-point prep, while beating 10 rivals.
Other stakes action from the weekend came with major surprises as Set-Hut LLC's Touchuponastar went gate to wire in the 1 1/8-mile New Orleans Classic (G2) as a 6.50-1 choice, beating 2024 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Sierra Leone in the process. The Muniz Memorial Classic (G2), one race later, produced an even more shocking result when Idratherbeblessed, at 86-1, held on by a neck when wiring the field in the 1 1/8-mile turf race.
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