Although she made a name for herself in Mexico, like so many good ones before, Letruska was bred in Kentucky and gained her preferred status in the Commonwealth. She proves again that talent knows no bounds, she could become an American champion.
Oaklawn’s Apple Blossom Handicap winner in April against two American champions, Letruska took her fourth win of the year and 15th place in 20 career starts on Saturday. At 124 pounds and with Jose Ortiz on board, the 5 year old mare made a promising debut at Churchill Downs at 5 3/4 lengths in Grade 2 $ 300,000 fleur de lis on the final day of the Louisville Spring Meeting.
Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska spotted 5 pounds on runner-up Antoinette, trained by Bill Mott. The 2010 Kentucky Derby winner’s daughter Super Saver took the lead, finishing the fastest-rated nine stadiums in 1: 48.57. Her time was faster than Champion Midnight Bisou’s time of 1: 48.99 last year and the fastest race since Paid Up Subscriber with 1: 48.44 in 2016. She paid $ 3.40 as the odds favorite Six horse field on the Stephen Foster Stakes undercard under.
Antoinette and the third-placed Envoutante also drove at Oaklawn, as did Vault, the last of six in the Fleur de Lis after a Grade 2 win at Belmont Park, which was last out for coach Brad Cox.
A Class 1 win on June 5th at the Ogden Phipps in Belmont qualified Letruska for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on November 6th in Del Mar. The Ogden Phipps was their first race in the country without medication for bleeding, commonly referred to as Lasix , and the fleur de lis was her second.
The Apple Blossom, Letruska’s first win in 1st class, came against the champions Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver, the latter only becoming the third Preakness-awarded filly in almost a century in 2020. Her only loss that year, which she avenged at the Ogden Phipps, was on March 13 in Oaklawns Grade 2 Azeri against Shedaresthedevil, 2020 Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil (owned by Staton Flurry of Hot Springs).
Gutierrez sees Letruska, whose first start of the year took place in January at the Houston Ladies Classic Grade 3, as a potential dirt woman to win the Eclipse Award.
“She won four stakes races. She ran with the best horses in the divisions – Swiss Skydiver, Monomoy Girl, Shedaresthedevil – and she won. She has fought all runs. All conditions. So I think yes.
“And why not maybe think about running with the boys.
As one of five winning foals for the successful Appeal mare Magic Appeal, Letruska earned more than 1.6 million US dollars for St. George Stables, a company owned by the German Larrea Mota-Velasco.
Later, Jose Ortiz also won Grade 2 $ 750,000 Stephen Foster on 5-year-old Maxfield for Godolphin Stable and Trainer Brenden Walsh. The Street Sense horse lapped the field in the wide corner, won his third start of the year and fourth at Churchill Downs, completed nine stadiums in 1: 48.53 and secured a spot in the $ 6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Jan. November in Del Mar. In the 2020 Kentucky Derby, Maxfield was sidelined due to an injury. Maxfield’s only defeat in eight starts came in third in the Santa Anita Handicap class 1 in March.
Maxfield won by 3 1/4 lengths and paid $ 2.80 to win, becoming a racing millionaire in the Foster. Warriors Charge, Oaklawn’s 2020 Razorback Handicap winner Grade 3 for Cox, finished second.
Also on the Churchill card, Double Thunder ($ 10.20), an undefeated Super Saver colt trained by Todd Pletcher, went from last to first and won nearly five lengths at Bashford Manor class 3 for $ 150,000 for 2 year olds. Behave Virginia ($ 10.20) won the corresponding six-wheel race, the ungraded debutante, for teenage mares, with Ken McPeek coaching Unified’s daughter.
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