Letruska, the Eclipse Award champion older dirt female of 2021, will visit two-time Horse of the Year Curlin for her first mating during the 2023 breeding season, DRF En Espanol reports on social media.
A 7-year-old daughter of Super Saver, Letruska retired with 19 wins in 29 starts for earnings of $3,053,529.
Though she was born in Kentucky and raced as a homebred for St. George Stables, Letruska began her racing career in Mexico, where she went unbeaten in six starts and was named the country's champion 3-year-old filly of 2019 after a pair of Group 1 wins. That campaign included her first U.S. start in the Copa Invitacional del Caribe Stakes at Gulfstream Park, where she defeated a field of imported 3-year-old colts and fillies by 4 1/4 lengths.
Letruska remained in the U.S. after that race with trainer Fausto Gutierrez, and she won her first stateside graded stakes race in August of her 4-year-old season when she took the G3 Shuvee Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Two starts later, she embarked on a run that gained her global prominence, winning seven of eight races and finishing second in her lone defeat.
Included in that run, which encompassed practically all of her 2021 season, were victories in the G1 Apple Blossom Handicap, Ogden Phipps Stakes, Personal Ensign Stakes, and Spinster Stakes. She earned the Eclipse Award that season as champion older dirt female upon the conclusion of the 2021 season.
Letruska started strong in 2022 with scores in the G3 Royal Delta Stakes and a repeat win in the G1 Apple Blossom Handicap, but her form tailed off as the year wore on, and she went winless in her final three career starts.
Curlin, a 19-year-old son of Smart Strike, stands at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Paris, Ky., for an advertised fee of $225,000.
From 12 crops of racing age, Curlin has sired 618 winners and amassed progeny earnings in excess of $125 million.
His 2022 slate of runners included a trio of Breeders' Cup winners: Malathaat (Distaff), Cody's Wish (Dirt Mile), and Elite Power (Sprint), along with the likely champion 3-year-old filly in Nest and top older female Clairiere. His other runners of note include Breeders' Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso, Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Good Magic, Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator, Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice. and Travers Stakes winner Keen Ice.
Nos comentó Fausto Gutiérrez que la campeona Letruska será servida por otro campeón, Curlin. En estos momentos la reina de los mexicanos y de todos los caribeños está en Lexington, KY, donde será preparada para 'su cita' en las próximas semanas. #DRFenEspañol #DRF
— DRFenEspanol (@DRFenEspanol) January 12, 2023
The post Champion Letruska To Visit Curlin For First Mating In 2023 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
