On Friday night at Turfway Park, trainer Tom Drury Jr. saddled Admit in the 1 1/16-mile Cincinnati Trophy. The filly ran out of ground to reel in loose-on-the-lead White Rocks, settling for second in the Kentucky Oaks points race. Drury found himself on the opposite side of the scenario on Saturday night in Florence. His trainee California Burrito set a contested pace before holding off favored Baby Max in the stretch for a half-length victory in the $175,000 John Battaglia Memorial, a Kentucky Derby points race. "Oh, gosh, where do you begin?" said Drury, who trains California Burrito for Aaron and Victoria Haberman. "This time of year with a 3-year-old that's doing good, you know what we're all thinking. And you wake up every morning, you're crossing your fingers hoping everything goes right. And to see him turn that horse back like he did and be kicking on at the end of it – gosh, I'm at a loss for words." The Battaglia Memorial awarded points toward a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate to its top finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. It was the local prep for the Grade 3, $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 22, which awards points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2025: Point standings, prep schedule, news, and more A large field of 11 went to post in the Battaglia, which saw its morning-line favorite, Grade 2-winning juvenile First Resort, scratch from what would have been his 3-year-old debut due to soreness. Baby Max, who won the Leonatus Stakes on Jan. 18 at Turfway, picked up Luis Saez, who would have ridden First Resort, as well as favoritism. Maximum Promise was a narrow second choice at post time over California Burrito, who paid $9.42 to win. Shan, who set the pace in the Leonatus before finishing third, rolled out of the gate in good order but was content to settle back this time, ceding early leadership to California Burrito and Irving Moncada. But it was no loose lead, as a pumped-up Maitre D, who broke from the outside after drawing in off the also-eligible list, quickly cut across the field to join ranks into the first turn. Despite being on the inside and nearly eyeballing a keyed-up foe, a position that can prompt some horses to expend excess energy, California Burrito rated kindly under a long hold for Moncada. He kept his head in front through opening splits of 24.50 seconds for the quarter and 49.41 for the half and began to edge away. Meanwhile, Saez settled Baby Max behind the two leaders and had him in the clear stacked three wide approaching the end of the backstretch.   Baby Max began his move midway around the far turn, and with Saez starting to get busy, he had dead aim on California Burrito as Maitre D left the scene. But California Burrito dug in when straightened, and though Baby Max hung with him, he never got past. With the two colts wandering out toward the center of the track but never making contact, the leader held on by a half-length at the wire.  “He’s been working lights out in the morning – I was very confident in him coming into the race,” Moncada said. “The plan was to be aggressive early to get him into a good spot, and he took me right to the lead. He was doing it very easily on his own most of the race. I’m very impressed with how he battled back down the lane. I think the future is very bright for him. I see no problem with him stretching out in distance from today.”  The final time on the Tapeta was 1:45.98.   After the top pair, it was 5 1/2 lengths back to Maximum Promise. Jammed up at the start, he was 10th after a half-mile and made a sustained rally to finish third, two lengths clear of Banks. They were followed, in order, by multiple stakes winner Studlydoright; Turfway Prevue winner Coming in Hot, making his first start beyond 6 1/2 furlongs; Shan; Special Caliber; King of Ashes; Maitre D; and Spirit Rags. Along with First Resort, Calling Card and Brereton's Baytown – the latter entered in Sunday's Grade 2 Rebel at Oaklawn – scratched.   By Army Mule, California Burrito has now won three times in six career starts. He is proven over the dirt at Churchill Downs against sold competition. He broke his maiden last September there while running for a $150,000 tag, besting Instant Replay by six lengths. Instant Replay has won impressively at Fair Grounds and is bound for a Derby points race in his next outing.  California Burrito then finished second in a Churchill allowance/optional claiming race to Magnitude, who won last weekend's Grade 2 Risen Star with the highest Beyer Speed Figure of this class. Magnitude has since been sidelined by an ankle chip.   California Burrito has now won back-to-back races around two turns at Turfway. He was a 7 1/4-length winner in a Jan. 24 allowance-optional, in which he got away with a very slow pace on the front end – 26.13 for his opening quarter and 51.64 for the half. On Saturday night, he was pressed on the lead and prevailed.   "He continues to move forward," Drury said. "He's starting to answer questions. They went slow [in his last race] and he kicked on fair enough, but today he was tested, and it was a big effort for him."  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.