Letruska, 2021 champion older dirt female, romped to a front-running victory in the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) Saturday, taking Oaklawn Park's centerpiece race for older fillies and mares for the second straight year.
Ridden by Jose Ortiz for trainer Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska carved out fractions of :23.77, :47.26, and 1:11.60 for six furlongs, leading by a much as 2 1/2 lengths with Miss Imperial chasing from second early. A mile went in 1:35.95 before daughter of Super Saver crossed the finish line 1 ¼ lengths in front of runner-up Clairiere, who rallied from last.
Letruska covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.22 on a track rated as fast and returned $3 as the heavy 4-5 favorite in the five-horse field.
Ce Ce, reigning champion female sprinter and winner of the 2020 Apple Blossom, lacked a closing kick after tracking Letruska from third for the opening half mile, then second through six furlongs, and checked in third.
“This horse is different,” Gutierrez said of Letruska, the 124-pound highweight. “To win the Apple Blossom twice is great. This was a handicap and now we're giving weight, you have to remember that. When we won the Apple Blossom last year, Monomoy (Girl) was giving us weight. That's a difference this year. She ran great. All the time I'm nervous with these races. She's come back in good form and now we're thinking about the next race.”
Letruska improved her record to 19-1-1 in 25 starts and has earned $2,948,529.
I knew Clairiere would be coming late so I used my speed and I was able to hold her off,” Ortiz said. “I felt my filly was in a very nice rhythm. I knew with the way she running the last eighth pole it would take a super horse to go by her. I knew they were there, but when I felt her switch to the left lead I felt she gave me another gear and when I looked, I saw the other filly (Clairiere) there, but I never thought they were going to go by.”
Jockey Victor Espinoza said Ce Ce ran a good race.
“It's the way the race set up because nobody really challenged her (Letruska) in the race, like the first five-eighths. It's hard to catch horses like that in front. But Ce Ce, she ran well.”
Letruska, a 6-year-old St. George Stable homebred produced by the Successful Appeal mare Magic Appeal, is the fourth horse to win multiple runnings of the Apple Blossom, following Hall of Famers Paseana (1992, 1993), Azeri (2002, 2003, 2004) and Zenyatta (2008 and 2010).
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