Letruska | Horse Racing Free Tips

Letruska Tough to Beat in Spinster

With the retirement of both Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) and Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), Letruska (Super Saver) stands head and shoulders above the older mare division and is currently ranked second behind only Knicks Go (Paynter) among all runners in the country on the latest NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. She'll look to put her raw brilliance on display over her home track Sunday in Keeneland's GI Juddmonte Spinster S., a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

The powerful 5-year-old bay beat both Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver fair and square in the GI Apple Blossom H. in April when she started a four-race graded win streak that included the Aug. 28 GI Personal Ensign S. in her last out. She's been training like a beast, bulleting in eight of her last nine works, including in her most recent five-panel move at Keeneland Oct. 2 in :59 flat (1/55). She does her best work from the lead, then simply runs her competition off their feet. The former Mexican star has now won seven graded stakes in the U.S., including her last two at the Spinster's nine-furlong distance and three Grade Is. Letruksa is a head shy of being unbeaten on the year in six starts and has already won three”Win and You're In” races this season. She'll look to make it four in the Spinster.

Of the competition, Bonny South (Munnings) gave Letruska a scare in the Personal Ensign, getting within a half-length when she unleashed a strong closing kick. The blaze-faced chestnut also finished behind the likely champ in the GI Ogden Phipps S. Bonny South has just one win on the year, but it was here at Keeneland in the GIII Doubledogdare S. during the Spring Meet, so the track won't be an issue.

Grade I winner Dunbar Road (Quality Road) hasn't won this year, but she got a 100 Beyer when fourth behind Letruska in the Personal Ensign and shipped in from Belmont when she could have stayed at the same distance–albeit over one turn–in Sunday's GII Beldame S. Multiple graded winner Envoutante (Uncle Mo) and listed winner Crystal Ball (Malibu Moon) are both Grade I-placed, but each would need a career-best effort to come close to Letruska.

The post Letruska Tough to Beat in Spinster appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Letruska Puts In Final Preparations For Sunday’s Spinster At Keeneland

St. George Stable's Letruska jogged once around the main track at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., Saturday morning as she readied herself for a run in Sunday's $500,000 Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster.

A winner of four consecutive races, including three Grade 1s, Letruska schooled in the Paddock during Friday afternoon's third race and was a bundle of energy.

“That is normal for her,” trainer Fausto Gutierrez said. “We like to school two or three days before a race and on race day, she is good.”

Since winning the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Presented by Lia Infiniti on Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Letruska has recorded two bullet works here in preparation for the Juddmonte Spinster. The stakes will serve as her final prep race for the $2 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., on Nov. 6.

“I like to spend a lot of time here, and she knows this track very well,” said Gutierrez, who initially brought Letruska to Keeneland in May after she defeated champion Monomoy Girl in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Letruska did the bulk of her work here prior to winning the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., in June and the Personal Ensign.

The post Letruska Puts In Final Preparations For Sunday’s Spinster At Keeneland appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Leading Lady Letruska Tops Field Of Seven For ‘Win And You’re In’ Spinster

St. George Stable's Letruska, who has firmly established herself as the leading mare in the land, heads a field of seven fillies and mares entered Thursday for Sunday's 66th running of the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) at Keeneland.

Scheduled as the ninth race on Sunday's 10-race program, the Juddmonte Spinster is a Breeders' Cup Challenge race with the winner receiving a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) to be run Nov. 6 at Del Mar. Post time for the Juddmonte Spinster is 5:15 p.m. ET with first post at 1 p.m.

Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska has had her Breeders' Cup ticket punched three times by virtue of victories in the Ogden Phipps (G1), Fleur de Lis (G2) and Personal Ensign (G1) Presented by Lia Infiniti. Prior to the Ogden Phipps victory, Letruska started her four-race win streak with a nose victory over champion Monomoy Girl in the Apple Blossom (G1) in April at Oaklawn Park.

Since taking the Personal Ensign on Aug. 28, Letruska has had two bullet works at Keeneland. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount Sunday from post position four.

Back to challenge Letruska from the Personal Ensign are Juddmonte's Bonny South and Peter Brant's Dunbar Road.

Trained by Brad Cox, Bonny South has been a runner-up twice to Letruska. She came up 2¾ lengths short in the Ogden Phipps and was a half-length shy in the Personal Ensign. Winner of the Baird Doubledogdare (G3) here this spring, Bonny South will be ridden Florent Geroux out of post position two.

Dunbar Road finished fourth in the Personal Ensign, beaten just three-quarters of a length. Trained by Chad Brown, Dunbar Road was third in last year's Breeders' Cup Distaff here. In her only other Keeneland start, she ran third in the 2019 Juddmonte Spinster.

Dunbar Road will exit post one under jockey Flavien Prat.

The field for the Juddmonte Spinster, with riders and weights from the inside, is:

Dunbar Road (Prat, 124 pounds)
Bonny South (Geroux, 124)
Town Avenger (Julien Leparoux, 121)
Letruska (Ortiz Jr., 124)
Envoutante (Brian Hernandez Jr., 124)
Crystal Ball (Tyler Gaffalione, 124)
High Regard (Rafael Bejarano, 124)

The post Leading Lady Letruska Tops Field Of Seven For ‘Win And You’re In’ Spinster appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Medina Spirit, Art Collector Jump Into Top 10 Of NTRA Thoroughbred Poll

Knicks Go, Letruska and Essential Quality retained the top three spots, respectively, in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll while Medina Spirit (seventh) and Art Collector (eighth) moved into the Top 10 following impressive victories in their final tune-ups for the Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.

Korea Racing Authority's 5-year-old Knicks Go, who galloped to victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs, retained his No. 1 rating in the poll for the ninth straight week. Trained by Brad Cox, Knicks Go is expected to make his next start in the Grade 1 $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 6.

St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska, who is expected to make her next start this Sunday in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, remains in second place in this week's poll. Letruska is a leading contender for the Grade 1, $2,000,000 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff on Nov. 6.

Godolphin's 3-year-old Essential Quality, also trained by Cox and winner of the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 28, remained in third place in the weekly poll. Essential Quality is expected to face older horses for the first time in the Classic.

Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, a leading contender for the Grade 1, $2,000,000 Breeders' Cup Sprint at six furlongs on Nov. 6, jumped two spots in this week's poll to land in fourth position. Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing, and Gainesway Stable's Hot Rod Charlie, who secured his first Grade 1 victory in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 25, moved from seventh to fifth place in the poll. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie is expected to make his next start in the Classic.

Michael Lund Peterson's Gamine, a leading contender for the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 6, fell from fourth to sixth in this week's poll. She was followed in the polling by Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirt, an impressive winner of Saturday's Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita and Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector, winner of the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes Saturday at Belmont Park. Max Player and Domestic Spending rounded out the top 10.

Click here for this week's complete poll results.

The post Medina Spirit, Art Collector Jump Into Top 10 Of NTRA Thoroughbred Poll appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post