Each year, the Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve acts as a showcase for how quickly a young 3-year-old can develop. That rang true again March 22 when Final Gambit, coming off his maiden victory in his most recent race, unleashed a devastating turn of foot in the stretch to win the $776,364 Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park.

Final Gambit began his career with three consecutive one-mile races, his latest being a last-to-first maiden-breaking score at Turfway Park by 2 1/4 lengths on Feb. 15. Off that performance, trainer Brad Cox came to owner Juddmonte with the plan to run him in the Jeff Ruby, citing the 1 1/8-mile distance being beneficial.

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"He's a horse that was pretty immature from the beginning, so we just developed him slowly," said Cox's Turfway assistant Tessa Walden. "He's continuously shown the ability to step up. We thought it was a good time to try it."

With regular rider Luan Machado in the saddle, Final Gambit found himself in last entering the first turn as Charlie's to Blame and Innovator raced a quick opening quarter in :22.97 before posting following fractions of :47.91 and 1:12.84.

Machado said he wasn't expecting to be as far back as he was, but the horse gave him every indication that he'd make up the ground when called upon.

"As soon as I started asking him, they started coming back to me very fast," Machado said.

Once in the lane, Final Gambit's move was too powerful to overcome. He rushed to the lead outside the sixteenth pole and called checkmate as he pulled away to win by 3 1/2 lengths. He stopped the clock in 1:50.10 and paid $32.14 to win.

"I was blown away by the kick," said Juddmonte USA general manager Garrett O'Rourke. "It was very impressive."

Flying Mohawk, who also raced near the back of the pack, rallied up for second while Maximum Promise finished third. Last year's Grade 2 Remsen Stakes winner Poster, the 9-5 favorite, completed the superfecta.

The Jeff Ruby offered Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the top five finishers, meaning both Final Gambit and Flying Mohawk have essentially clinched spots in the starting gate should they choose to go. Neither horse has raced on dirt.

The Jeff Ruby Steaks. (Jessica Morgan/Eclipse Sportswire)

Final Gambit debuted on turf before two synthetic starts prior to the Jeff Ruby. Flying Mohawk had raced exclusively on turf in five prior starts.

"We're going to let things settle a little bit and have some discussions about it because I do think we have one of the best turf 3-year-olds," said Whit Beckman, who trains Flying Mohawk.

"I don’t think (the dirt) will be an issue for him," Walden said about Final Gambit. "He has the maturity now to handle something different."

The jury is also still out on whether Final Gambit will run in the Derby, according to O'Rourke.

"Everything is on the table at the moment, there's an awful lot of discussions to be made," O'Rourke said. "The horse ultimately answers the questions with how he trains. Trainers like Brad have a feel for what the horses can and can't do. We'll let the professionals make those decisions. Obviously, we'll talk to the owners as well and see what they want to do. Today is a huge step up from what he's done and where he's going to go to in the future."

Machado said he was confident that Final Gambit could handle both the surface and the distance of the Kentucky Derby.

"He lost a lot of ground even though I tried not to. I believe that (the Kentucky Derby's 1 1/4 miles) is not going to be a problem," Machado said. "I will have to get on him (in the morning) and see (how he handles dirt). I don't see a reason for him not to like it."