‘She’s a superstar.’ Letruska tunes up for Breeders’ Cup with wire-to-wire romp.
Letruska has raced seven times in 2021 and won six.
America’s top mare has raced 22 times in her life and won 17.
What do those statistics add up to?
“This is a horse to change the life of any person,” trainer Fausto Gutierrez said at Keeneland on Sunday evening. “She’s a superstar and she proves (it) every second, every race. She shows her game, her ability at Churchill, at Oaklawn, at Saratoga. She’s a racehorse.”
The 5-year-old superstar delivered a treat for the crowd assembled at Lexington’s race course Sunday, racing for the first time at Keeneland in the $500,000, Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes.
As Letruska normally does, she vanquished a field of five challengers to secure the first career Keeneland stakes victory for Gutierrez and the ninth for jockey Irad Ortiz. The daughter of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver defeated Dunbar Road by 1 3/4 lengths and Bonny South by 3 ½ and returned $2.80, $2.10 and $2.10.
“She’s doing so good right now,” Ortiz said. “I think she has great condition, a good trainer. She’s doing unbelievable right now. She was just moving smooth out there. She didn’t go that fast today but she did it easy, relaxed, and whenever I asked her she was there for me.”
Of Letruska’s six victories this year, four have been of the Grade 1 variety.
The 66th running of the Juddmonte Spinster represented Letruska’s fourth win this year in a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” event. Owned by St. George Stable, she’s earned a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff scheduled for Nov. 6 at Del Mar in California, marking her first appearance at Thoroughbred racing’s World Championships.
“She right now is one of the top contenders of the division,” Gutierrez said Sunday. “For her to win (this) Win and You’re In (race) for the Breeders’ Cup … What can I tell you? This is a strong year for this horse.”
Sunday’s highlights
Also earning Breeders’ Cup berths Sunday were Tiz the Bomb in the Grade 2 Castle and Key Bourbon Stakes for the Juvenile Turf and Averly Jane in the Indian Summer Stakes for the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Tiz the Bomb, trained by Lexington’s Kenny McPeek and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., broke through the gate before the start of the race but got things under control in time to launch a huge run in the final eighth of a mile.
“It’s not a good omen, typically, and yeah, it makes a trainer nervous when it happens, but (jockey) Brian (Hernandez) did a great job wrangling him up and keeping him under control,” McPeek said afterward. “It’s worse if he comes off or something like that. This horse has got a lot of talent and we’re fortunate to have a guy like Brian who handles things on the oval. He does a great job.”
McPeek won the Bourbon Stakes for the fourth time, having done so previously with Pineaff (1998), Rogue Romance (2010) and Lawn Ranger (2014).
Averly Jane rocketed to the front and cruised to a 3-length victory in the $200,000 Indian Summer. Ridden by Tyler Gaffalione and trained by Wesley Ward, the 2-year-old Averly Jane won for the fourth time in four career starts — three on dirt before Sunday’s debut on the turf.