Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Letruska won’t be easy to knock off in Fleur de Lis
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs has been a central hub this year for the best fillies and mares on the continent, with Monomoy Girl, Swiss Skydiver, Shedaresthedevil, and Envoutante all training here at various times this spring.
Now comes an invader intent on overshadowing them all. Letruska, the clear-cut division leader following back-to-back wins in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom and Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, will make her first-ever visit to Churchill when she faces five others Saturday in the Grade 2, $300,000 Fleur de Lis.
Letruska has been stabled just up the highway at Keeneland since late April, having moved from her winter base in Florida by way of her Apple Blossom breakthrough. She’ll be looking to tighten her grip on the top slot in the filly-mare ranks when she breaks from the outside post in the 1 1/8-mile Fleur de Lis, which is carded as the fifth of 12 races and the first of seven stakes on a huge closing-day card at Churchill.
The Fleur de Lis is a Win and You’re In qualifier for the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. Letruska, owned by the St. George Stables of Mexican billionaire German Larrea, already punched her BC ticket with a 2 3/4-length jaunt in the Phipps on the June 5 Belmont Stakes undercard.
A wheel-back of three weeks came as something of a surprise when trainer Fausto Gutierrez revealed last weekend he would run Letruska in the Fleur de Lis. It has become customary in this country for top-level horses to be given more time between their races, but Gutierrez, a longestablished training star in his native Mexico, said the manner in which Letruska exited the Phipps convinced him to use the Fleur de Lis as a bridge to her next Grade 1 berth, likely the Aug. 28 Personal Ensign at Saratoga.
“When a horse is ready to run, we have to let them run,” he said.
Letruska, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred by Super Saver, has never been better. A winner of 14 races and more than $1.4 million from 19 starts, she has steadily climbed the class ladder with flair, usually by wresting early command and proving herself uncatchable. Her Beyer Speed Figures of 102 in the Apple Blossom and 103 in the Phipps represent career highs. Accordingly, she’s the 4-5 program favorite.
To notch her fourth graded win of the year, Letruska probably will be sent to the front again by Jose Ortiz – that is, unless Antoinette and jockey Florent Geroux are intent on setting the pace from post 2. Antoinette is something of a wild card in here. Her previous dirt races don’t suggest she has the kind of early foot to keep Letruska from the front, but she has upped her speed game by a considerable degree racing primarily on grass over the past 12 months.
However it unfolds up top, Envoutante (post 4, Brian Hernandez Jr.) and Spice Is Nice (post 5, John Velazquez) figure to do the stalking, with Point of Honor (post 1, Javier Castellano) and Vault (post 3, Tyler Gaffalione) being the early laggers.
Envoutante has been on quite a roll for nine months and is a deserving 2-1 second choice on the morning line. Trained by Ken McPeek, the 4-yearold Uncle Mo filly clearly has an affinity for the Churchill surface, having won the Grade 2 Falls City by six lengths last November before finishing a good second to Shedaresthedevil in the La Troienne on the April 30 Kentucky Oaks undercard and easily winning the May 29 Shawnee in her latest appearance.
“She’s a good filly, no doubt,” said McPeek, who already has Swiss Skydiver at Saratoga to prepare for major races there. “Distance is no problem for her at all. She came out of the Shawnee in great shape and we should be all set.”
Spice Is Nice, in off a victory in the Grade 3 Allaire duPont at Pimlico last month, was crossentered in the Lady Jacqueline on the Ohio Derby undercard Saturday at Thistledown, but trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday she will run at Churchill.
Point of Honor, the 2019 Black-Eyed Susan winner when still trained by George Weaver, is making her first start since being sold to Alpha Delta Stables and turned over to Shug McGaughey. The 5-year-old Curlin mare shows nine workouts at Belmont Park ahead of her first start in nearly eight months.
The Fleur de Lis, a tribute to the French symbol that represents the city of Louisville, has a rich recent history, with Rachel Alexandra (2010), Royal Delta (2012), Blue Prize (2018), and Elate (2019) among its latest winners. The race was won last June by the division leader at the time, Midnight Bisou. Scheduled post time for this 46th running is 2:45 p.m. Eastern.