A 12 months in the past coach Fausto Gutierrez suspected he had a prime feminine sprinter in Letruska —until her season didn’t work out as planned.
Now openly admitting he likely made some mistakes in 2020, Gutierrez is preparing St. George Stable homebred Letruska for a start in the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 6 at Del Mar. The 5-year-old daughter of Super Saver has won six of seven starts in 2021 and enters on a five-race win streak, with four of those victories coming at the grade 1 level.
MULVIHILL: Letruska Carries Horse of the Year Hopes into Distaff
Right now final 12 months, Letruska’s 4-year-old season did not embody a visit to the Breeders’ Cup when her connections determined to offer her a brief break as a substitute of taking up the World Championships. Initially final 12 months Gutierrez was considering she could be a great match for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Dash (G1) after she gained the Added Magnificence Stakes going the one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park in late June. Off that effort, Letruska was pointed to the seven-furlong Ballerina Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course the place she tracked Serengeti Empress early but then faded to fourth.
That race sent her connections scrambling a bit. They stretched her out and found a good fit in the Shuvee Stakes (G3) at Saratoga, where Letruska scored a front-end victory in the 1 1/8-mile test. Gutierrez kept her at two turns for the Beldame Invitational (G2) at Belmont Park the place she opened a seven-length lead however pale once more to fourth.
Not liking the sample of excellent start-bad begin, Gutierrez opted to not transfer ahead to the Breeders’ Cup after the Oct. 4 Beldame. He as a substitute took a little bit of time to give you a plan for 2021. In a 2020 season that noticed huge adjustments to the racing schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gutierrez thinks he made a mistake early within the season when he ran Letruska in allowance-level races at Oaklawn Park two weeks aside—the primary leading to a win, the second a third-place end.
Gutierrez famous Oaklawn was one of many few choices to race within the spring of 2020 due to COVID 19. Realizing that, he determined to deliver her again on fast discover however now believes that was a mistake.
“We simply determined to attend one other 12 months,” Gutierrez stated of the choice to halt Letruska’s season after the Beldame. “That day I began to work (on the plan) for the following 12 months as a result of I made a pair errors final 12 months. I attempted to not repeat these errors this 12 months.”
Whereas Gutierrez thinks Letruska missed some alternative final 12 months, the difficulties of 2020 have given solution to a clean 2021. Letruska returned in December 2020 to win the one-mile Rampart Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream after which adopted with a 3 1/2-length victory within the 1 1/16-mile Houston Girls Basic (G3) in January at Sam Houston Race Park as her coach started a sample of progressively stretching her out in distance. After a memorable runner-up end to Shedaresthedevil in the Azeri Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn, Letruska has rolled to five straight wins—a stretch capped by a clear victory in the 1 1/8-mile Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) Oct. 10 at Keeneland.
(L-R): Irad Ortiz Jr. is greeted by Fausto Gutierrez after profitable the Private Ensign Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Gutierrez stated his race plans for Letruska in 2021 did embody choices. He determined to see how she raced and see how she got here out of these races every time earlier than finalizing the following begin. That strategy noticed Letruska demand a path to the 1 1/8-mile Distaff. She’s going to enter off three straight wins on the distance because the Spinster adopted victories within the Private Ensign Stakes Offered by Lia Infiniti (G1) at Saratoga and Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.
“This can be a actual dream,” Gutierrez stated of the season and going into the Distaff as the favourite. “No person might assume this might occur… To be right here, it is like one other planet.”
