Vulnerable favorites in the Single 6 at Turfway Park on Saturday

The $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) headlines the biggest day of racing at the Turfway Park meeting on Saturday. A 1 1/8-mile contest for Kentucky Derby (G1) hopefuls, the Jeff Ruby also concludes the Single 6 Jackpot, which begins in Race 6. With big and competitive fields in the sequence, I think that the majority of the favorites are vulnerable and that the return of the wager could be especially healthy to those who navigate their way through all six contests.

Race 6 -- Rushaway S.

Opening leg features seven sophomores in a wide-open event. #3 Donegal Bay (3-1) is a lukewarm morning-line choice for Todd Pletcher who failed to impress me a whole lot as a juvenile. The Uncle Mo gelding was outrun in two of his three assignments in 2020, with his lone victory coming at Gulfstream Park over a surface that played well to speed types. He is training well for a highly respected conditioner, but there are simply too many other options in the race to fall in love with the bay.

Race 7 -- Latonia S.

Big field of fillies and mares will travel one mile in this affair. #2 Ujjayi (3-1) deserves to be favored off of her current form run, led by an excellent second in the Houston Ladies Classic (G3) last time out. But the Pennsylvania-bred has yet to prove that she can duplicate that effort on the synthetic, or even the lawn, for that matter. Smarty Jones mare will be awfully tough if she takes to the Turfway strip, but there is no guarantee that she will. I like others with proven all-weather ability.

Race 10 -- Bourbonette Oaks

I find it very difficult to single a runner at Turfway Park who has never competed on the All-Weather or turf. So while I think that #8 Adventuring (3-1) is a nice prospect for conditioner Brad Cox, I can’t put all my eggs in her basket at a short price. The Juddmonte homebred impressed with a powerful maiden conquest at Fair Grounds most recently, but she could be any kind in her local debut. The filly is worth using, but she is very beatable as the favorite.

Race 11 -- Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3)

An excellent field of sophomores has been assembled for the feature. #7 Tarantino (3-1) is the morning-line choice for Brisset coming off a pair of solid runs with graded foes in South Florida. The Pioneerof the Nile colt is obviously talented and could prosper in his initial synthetic try, but I have a few reasons for concern with the bay.

Tarantino likes to be in the mix from the start of his races, but he will be part of a fast and contested early tempo on Saturday. In addition, the expensive colt earned moderate Brisnet Late Pace figures of 83 and 82 in his pair of races at Gulfstream going 1 1/16 miles, and he is a question mark with the added distance on Saturday. Others offer greater value.