Fausto Gutierrez | Horse Racing Free Tips

Letruska Responds To Equipment Change With Victory In Rampart

St. George Stable's homebred filly Letruska shook off early pressure from Bajan Girl and opened up through the stretch to notch a popular front-running victory in Saturday's $100,000 Rampart Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The 42nd running of the one-mile Rampart for fillies and mares 3 and up was the first of five stakes, four graded, worth $575,000 in purses on an 11-race program headlined by the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2), local prep for the $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1).

Ridden by Emisael Jaramillo for trainer Fausto Gutierrez and favored at 3-2 in a field of six, Letruska ($5) completed the distance in 1:35.03 over a fast main track for her 11th career win and second in graded stakes company this year following the 1 1/8-mile Shuvee (G3) Aug. 30 at Saratoga.

Breaking from post 5 and racing without blinkers for the first time in her career, the 4-year-old daughter of Super Saver was hustled to the lead and in front through a quarter-mile in 23.92 seconds and a half in 46.31 chased by Bajan Girl, fourth in last winter's Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) and a winner of her last two starts at Gulfstream Park West.

Letruska remained in command around the turn and gained separation once straightened for home as Delaware Oaks (G3) runner-up Dream Marie came with a run up the rail to edge Bajan Girl for second. Good Credence, 2020 Hurricane Bertie (G3) winner Sally's Curlin and Crumb Bun completed the order of finish.

Following her gate-to-wire win in the Shuvee, Letruska opened up a seven-length lead in the 1 1/8-mile Beldame (G2) Oct. 4 at Belmont Park before fading to fourth in her most recent start. She improved to 3-0 lifetime at Gulfstream, including wins in the June 27 Added Elegance and last December's Copa Invitacional del Caribe going 1 ¼ miles against males.

“I had a big question mark about today because after her last race in New York I decided to remove the blinkers. I came to the conclusion that all the time she runs she never saw the other horses,” Gutierrez said. “It's important how she responds when she feels the competition near her. It was a very good performance.”

Letruska won back-to-back Group 1 stakes in Mexico before making her U.S. debut in the Copa Invitacional. She also won a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance in April at Oaklawn Park.

“We'll stay here and we'll decide what's possible,” Gutierrez said. “I think we'll stretch her out next time.”

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Mexican Star Letruska To Try Deeper Waters In Saratoga’s Ballerina

St. George Stable's Letruska, a multiple Group 1 winner in Mexico and two-time stakes winner in the U.S., will face the biggest test of her career when she makes her Saratoga debut in the Grade 1, $300,000 Ballerina presented by NYRA Bets on August 8.

The seven-furlong Ballerina for fillies and mares 3 and up is a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in November at Keeneland, and is among four graded stakes on the undercard of the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers program.

Letruska, a 4-year-old daughter of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, arrived last week in Saratoga from South Florida, where she had been based at the Palm Meadows training center.

“I wanted to give her enough time to have a good adaptation,” trainer Fausto Gutierrez said. “She looks perfect. She was in Florida and there the weather conditions are very humid. Before that she was in Mexico City where the weather is a little bit similar to this. I think for any horse here, the weather is perfect for training.”

Under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., who is signed on to ride in the Ballerina, Letruska breezed a half-mile in 47.04 seconds over Saratoga's main track Saturday, ranking fourth of 50 horses at the distance.

“I think she likes the track,” Gutierrez said. “When she breezed she breezed very easily, like she liked it a lot. I had the impression during the workout that she was just galloping, and when I checked the time I understand she was running. She came back perfect and scoped good. She's very, very happy and I think in very good form for this important race.”

Letruska owns nine wins from 11 career starts, winning each of her first seven in Mexico including the Group 1 Clasico Esmerelda and Group 1 Clasico Diamante last summer. Her American debut came against older males in the 1 1/4-mile Copa Invitacional del Caribe in December at Gulfstream Park, where she cruised to a front-running 4 1/4-length triumph.

Following a failed attempt on turf in the Tropical Park Oaks, Letruska was sent to Oaklawn Park for her seasonal debut and first race in 3 ½ months, leading all the way in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance triumph with Santana up. Last out, she was a gate-to-wire winner of the one-mile Added Elegance on June 27 at Gulfstream.

“She is a racehorse with exceptional speed. It's not easy to tell when the horses run in Mexico City, because you can't know the quality and you can't know the condition,” Gutierrez said. “We run high above sea level, and there is a lot of pollution. There she ran seven times and won the seven very easy in very good times.

“She won a tough allowance at Oaklawn Park after the layoff. The last race she had at Gulfstream, in my opinion, was spectacular. She ran very fast. She covered six furlongs in 1:08 and change,” he added. “This was the reason I came here. I'm sure she is ready for this level of competition.”

Gutierrez said Santana noticed a difference in Letruska in the 3 1/2 months since they were last together in Arkansas.

“He breezed her yesterday and he liked her a lot,” Gutierrez said. “She has grown up a lot and gotten stronger.”

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Formerly Based In Mexico, Clasico Del Caribe Winner Letruska Returns To Florida For Added Elegance

St. George Stable LLC's Letruska is set to make her return to Gulfstream Park's main track for the first time since outrunning older males during a 4 ¼-length romp at the demanding 1 ¼-mile distance last December.

The 4-year-old daughter of Super Saver, who remained undefeated in seven career starts in the Copa Invitacional del Caribe on the Dec. 8 Clasico Internacional del Caribe program, is scheduled to clash with seven other fillies and mares in Saturday's $60,000 Added Elegance at Gulfstream.

First race post for Saturday's 12-race program is noon. Six of the dozen races are scheduled for the turf, with four scheduled as part of the Rainbow 6 along with the Added Elegance.

Trainer Fausto Gutierrez had nominated Letruska to the June 11 Coaltown, an overnight handicap for 3-year-olds and up that attracted Grade 1 runners Math Wizard and Diamond Oops, but opted to wait for Saturday's mile overnight stakes for fillies and mares.

“She has worked very good. She's been very relaxed,” said Gutierrez, whose stable is now based at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. “I tried to run her two times, once against the boys, but in the end, I decided to wait because this race was very near. I think this is the perfect race for her.”

Although Letruska had already proven herself against males in the Copa Invitacional del Caribe, she was in receipt of a five-pound weight allowance as a 3-year-old and an eight-pound allowance as a filly.

“The last time [she ran against males] she got 13 pounds, it was a good handicap,” said Gutierrez, whose stable was primarily based in Mexico until this year.

Letruska sustained her first career loss in her turf debut in the Dec. 28 Tropical Park Oaks, in which she set a very keen early pace before tiring to 13th. The Kentucky-bred filly rebounded while returning to dirt and coming off a 3 ½-month layoff to capture an April 16 allowance at Oaklawn Park.

“She was incredible off the layoff. She ran a very high [speed] figure. She ran against very nice competition, fillies who have run in stakes,” Gutierrez said.

Letruska set a solid early pace and drew away to a 2 ¼-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile allowance in which the runner-up was Todd Pletcher-trained Nonna Madeline, a multiple graded stakes-placed filly who is also entered in Saturday's Added Elegance.

Letruska came back to sustain her first career loss on dirt April 30 at Oaklawn, tiring to third after setting a pressured pace in a mile allowance won by multiple graded-stakes winner Blamed.

“The second time she ran at Oaklawn, it was just 14 days after the first,” Gutierrez said. “It was like a stakes. Out of seven who ran six won stakes.”

Emisael Jaramillo, who was aboard for the Copa Invitacional del Caribe victory, will be back aboard Letruska, who will carry 126 pounds, four more than Nonna Madeline, Saturday.

Teresa Viola Racing Stables and St. Elias Stable's Nonna Madeline is set to make her first start since finishing second behind Letruska April 16. The 4-year-old daughter of Candy Ride had previously finished third in the Inside Information (G2) and fourth in the Hurricane Bertie (G3) after winning an allowance off a 14-month layoff during Gulfstream's Championship Meet.

Edgard Zayas is slated to ride Nonna Madeline for the first time Saturday.

Ken Copenhaver's Queen Nekia will seek to rebound from a 10th-place finish in the April 18 Apple Blossom (G1) at Oaklawn Park Saturday. The 5-year-old daughter of Harlington had previously finished third at Gulfstream in the Royal Delta (G2), beaten three-quarters of a length by victorious Cookie Dough.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. gave the call aboard Queen Nekia to Samy Camacho.

Irving Cowan's Remarkable Soul, Steven Dwoskin's Helping Lisa D., Starship Stables and Steven Dwoskin's Starship Bonita, Magic Stables LLC and Cairoli Racing Stable's Bella Ciao, and My Purple Haze Stables LLC's Heiressall round out the field.

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