Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Letruska targets BC Distaff after Apple Blossom win
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Fausto Gutierrez had Letruska out grazing on a beautiful Sunday morning at Oaklawn Park and was enjoying time with the mare who a day earlier added her name to a long list of outstanding winners of the Apple Blossom Handicap.
She also established herself as one of the top members of her division.
Letruska defeated two champions in the Apple Blossom, a Grade 1, $1 million fixture. She came back along the rail under Irad Ortiz Jr. to edge Monomoy Girl by a nose. Swiss Skydiver finished third. For the effort, Letruska earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 102.
“She came back good,” Gutierrez said Sunday. “Everything is in order. She’s a very healthy horse. She looks nice.”
Gutierrez said the path moving forward with Letruska is to be determined, but the main objective is to make the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar.
“We’ll check the different events they have and try to finish in the Breeders’ Cup in November,” he said. “We’ll maybe run in a month and a half or two months. Now that she’s won a Group 1, we need to select more carefully what is next.”
Letruska has been based at Palm Meadows, a training center in South Florida. She shipped into Oaklawn for last month’s Grade 2 Azeri and finished second by a head. Gutierrez elected to keep the mare at Oaklawn in advance of the Apple Blossom.
“I think I will stay in this area,” he said Sunday. “I’ll probably just go to Kentucky. She’ll train there, and we’ll decide what is next.”
Gutierrez has 12 horses in training at Palm Meadows.
“She and maybe another one will probably go to Kentucky,” he said. “It depends on what the next race is. Florida now is going to be very hot.”
Letruska went over $1 million in earnings Saturday, and Gutierrez said she’s the first millionaire for her owner and breeder, St. George Stable, which is based in Mexico. She’s also the top horse trained by the 52-year-old Gutierrez, a native of Mexico City.
Letruska won the first six races of her career in Mexico, where she was that country’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2019. She has now won six stakes in the United States, among them the Grade 3 Shuvee at Saratoga, the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston, and the Grade 3 Rampart at Gulfstream Park. Letruska also defeated older males over 1 1/4 miles in the 2019 running of the Copa Invitacional del Caribe at Gulfstream.
The Apple Blossom on Saturday was the latest thriller in the race first run in 1958. Last year, Ce Ce won by a head over Ollie’s Candy, and in 2019, champion Midnight Bisou was a nose winner over Escape Clause.
Monomoy Girl back to Churchill
Monomoy Girl emerged from her runner-up finish in the Apple Blossom Handicap in fine fashion, trainer Brad Cox said Monday. She was beaten a nose after a heart-stopping battle with Letruska, giving that one six pounds while earning the same Beyer Speed Figure, a 102.
“Monomoy Girl came out of the race good,” Cox said. “She’s shipping to Churchill Downs.”
Cox said he will be discussing next-race plans for the mare with her ownership. Monomoy Girl, who races for Spendthrift Farm, My Racehorse, and Madaket Stable, is the reigning champion older female of 2020.
“We’ll be talking it over with the group and we’ll come up with a game plan for her in the near future,” Cox said. “No immediate plans over the next couple of weeks. We’ll ship to Churchill Downs, see how she’s training and go from there.”
Cox said Monomoy Girl put in a valiant effort Saturday.
“We just didn’t have our head down when it counted,” he said. “I was proud of her effort. She ran a tremendous race. The numbers came back really strong – as far as what numbers I saw. It was a really good race and we got beat by a really good horse. The winner ran a big race. Congratulations to them. We’ll regroup and move forward. I look forward to another matchup with them in the future.”
Monomoy Girl had won six straight races leading up to the Apple Blossom. She is a twotime champion and earner of more than $4.7 million.
Swiss Skydiver to regoup
Swiss Skydiver, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2020, emerged from her third-place finish in the Apple Blossom Handicap on Saturday at Oaklawn in good order, trainer Ken McPeek said Monday.
The filly finished 6 1/2 lengths behind winner Letruska and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92. One start prior, Swiss Skydiver was a dominant winner of the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita.
“She’s fine,” McPeek said. “It’s a bit of a head-scratcher. We’re trying to wrap our heads around why she didn’t run well.”
McPeek said Swiss Skydiver has returned to Churchill Downs. Plans for her next start are to be determined, he said Tuesday.
“Nothing obvious right now,” McPeek said. “We’ll regroup and point her for something late spring or summer.”
McPeek said the long-range goal remains the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar.
Swiss Skydiver won last year’s Preakness over eventual Horse of the Year Authentic. She is an earner of more than $2.1 million and races for Peter Callahan.