As Turfway Park's 3-year-old stakes officially join the Road to the Kentucky Derby Feb. 21 in the $175,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, the question will be whether the local runners can fend off the shippers.
Midway Racing's Street Beast and St. Elias Stable and Starlight Racing's Fulleffort were the stars of the show when the sophomore stakes spotlight was last at Turfway Park in the Jan. 17 Leonatus Stakes.
Both grass runners made their Tapeta debuts, it was a tale of two trips. Street Beast made the lead from the far outside and stayed there for the full mile. Fulleffort, last early, rallied late to narrow the margin to a length at the wire.
Video: Leonatus S. (BT)
Fulleffort, a Brad Cox-trained son of Liam's Map , was the favorite and could potentially flip the script as they stretch out to 1 1/16 miles for the Saturday evening race. He would also benefit from some added pressure to Street Beast, who breaks from the rail for trainer Ben Colebrook.
Luckily for Street Beast's jockey, Luan Machado, the horse that appears on paper to be his main competition, Aces Honor, drew far away in post 10, likely giving Street Beast, a son of Street Sense , plenty of opportunity to get settled if he's sharp from the gate.
Aces Honor himself exits a stakes victory over a yielding turf course at Sam Houston Race Park last month. His presence at Turfway on Saturday could be a sign of confidence from trainer Ethan West and owner Pocket Aces Racing. Since the colt was originally sent to West's 10-horse Louisiana string for the winter in order to compete on turf, the fact that he is entered to race in Kentucky for this opportunity signals their belief in his quality and versatility to handle Tapeta.
Also shipping in is West Paces Racing, Rainbow's End Racing, and Anthony Prisco's Attfield, last-out winner of the Central Park Stakes over the same distance on the Aqueduct Racetrack turf in November. The Thomas Morley-trained son of Vekoma makes his first start of the year, breaking from post 7, which should give Ricardo Santana Jr. a chance to work out a nice stalking trip.
Gold Square's Two Out Hero is another making his Turfway and seasonal debut. Grade 1-placed in Canada as a juvenile, the Kevin Attard-trained son of War Front will have to overcome the far-outside draw.
With more of a turf background on several of the top runners, time will tell whether or not the 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points on offer to the top five finishers will be utilized, but there are several runners with dirt credentials testing the Tapeta.
One of those is Trade Winds Farm's Stop the Car, who experienced his first defeat in three starts after a wide trip when seventh in the Jan. 17 Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Trainer Brendan Walsh now ships the Maximum Security colt north, where he'll receive the services of Edgar Morales.
The Battaglia serves as a prep for the $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) at Turfway Park March 21.
Turfway Park, Saturday, February 21, 2026, Race 9Entries: John Battaglia Memorial S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Street Beast (KY) Luan Machado 122 Ben Colebrook - 2 Steel Imperium (KY) Dylan MacHado 122 Caio Caramori - 3 Maximus Prime (KY) Walter A. Rodriguez 122 Anthony Mitchell - 4 Kilo Tango (KY) Fernando De La Cruz 122 Brad H. Cox - 5 Baytown Dreamer (KY) Orlando Bocachica 122 Paul McEntee - 6 Time for Money (KY) Danny Sheehy 122 John Ennis - 7 Attfield (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 122 Thomas Morley - 8 Great White (KY) Alex Achard 122 John Ennis - 9 Stop the Car (KY) Edgar Morales 122 Brendan P. Walsh - 10 Aces Honor (KY) Victor R. Carrasco 122 Ethan W. West - 11 Fulleffort (KY) Vincent Cheminaud 122 Brad H. Cox - 12 Two Out Hero (KY) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 122 Kevin Attard - 13 Small Town (KY) Walter A. Rodriguez 122 Michael W. McCarthy -
