Picking up the mount from his injured brother, jockey Jose Ortiz made it look easy this Saturday aboard 6-5 favorite Letruska in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park. Taking the lead from the start on the 5-year-old daughter of Super Saver, Ortiz controlled the race throughout for a facile 2 3/4-length victory. Trained by Fausto Gutierrez for owner/breeder St. George Stable, Letruska completed 1 1/16 miles over the fast main track in 1:41.25.
The victory earns Letruska an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Distaff, scheduled for early November in Del Mar.
It was the second Grade 1 win for both Letruska and Gutierrez; the mare defeated champion Monomoy Girl last out in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park.
“Today, she confirmed what we saw in the Apple Blossom,” Gutierrez said. “She's progressed with age and taking the blinkers off. She ran like a big horse. When she would run on the lead, she never saw the other horses. She has improved so much more. She has this class to her. She really likes to run.
“Now we need to focus on the Breeders' Cup with the form that we have. These races are really tough. We'll check how she does. She's a very sound filly and I hope she continues like this.”
The anticipated speed duel with Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil did not materialize as Letruska was able to clear away from that rival down the backstretch, setting measured fractions of :23.49 and :45.87. Ortiz held a 1 1/2 length advantage heading into the turn, and Letruska extended that lead to nearly three lengths without being asked to mark three-quarters in 1:10.26.
Shedaresthedevil was unable to match strides with the winner down the lane, and late-running Bonny South moved up from last to gain second. At the finish, however, Letruska was all alone and geared down to win by 2 3/4 lengths. Queen Nekia filled out the super, while Water White finished last of the five. Both Swiss Skydiver and Valiance were scratched.
“She was breaking a little bit slow, but she broke good today,” Ortia said. “I was able to put her on the lead and make the other horses chase me. Florent [Geroux, aboard Shedaresthedevil], if he wanted to beat me, he had to run with me. She couldn't keep up with me by the three-eighths pole. When I looked back and saw her three lengths behind me, I was very happy.”
Bred in Kentucky by her owner, Letruska is out of the graded stakes-placed Successful Appeal mare Magic Appeal, a half to Grade 1 winner J P's Gusto. Letruska is a half-sister to the Grade 1-placed Trigger Warning; St. George purchased the dam, Magic Appeal, with Letruska in utero for $100,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. She began her career in Mexico, winning a pair of G1 races, then came to the United States with her trainer in late 2019. Letruska has blossomed this year as a 5-year-old, winning three of her four starts including back-to-back Grade 1's. Overall, the mare's record stands at 14 wins from 19 starts for earnings of over $1.4 million.
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