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Front-Running Letruska Too Much For Houston Ladies Classic Foes

St. George Stable's front-running Letruska lived up to her odds-on favoritism in Sunday's $300,000, Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, Texas, fighting off a pesky Motion Emotion, then drawing away to win the ninth running of the filly and mare fixture by 2 1/2 lengths under jockey Jesus Castanon.

MIke Maker-trained Ujjayi finished second, with 2020 Houston Ladies Classic winner Lady Apple four lengths farther back in third and Tom Amoss-trained Figure It Out fourth. Motion Emotion, who like Lady Apple is trained by Steve Asmussen, finished fifth after making a bold mid-race move to pressure the eventual winner. Ken McPeek-trained Jeweled Princess finished sixth and Scott Geiner-trained Shes Our Fastest rounded out the field of seven.

Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, who brought the 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare to the United States from Mexico City near the end of the 2019 racing season after winning all six of her races there, Letruska covered 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:45.02 after setting fractions of :23.66, :48.56, 1:12.99 and 1:38.42. She paid $2.80 as the 2-5 favorite and was winning for the 12th time in 16 career starts. Six of those wins have come in the U.S., including two other graded stakes: the G3 Shuvee at Saratoga last August and the G3 Rampart at Gulfstream Park in her last start on Dec. 12.

The Houston Ladies Classic was one of six stakes – two of them graded – with over $1 million in purses offered on Sunday's Houston Racing Festival program that saw wagering total $5,342,599.

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Medina Spirit Emerges With Narrow Victory In Robert B. Lewis Stakes

In a gutty gate to wire performance, Medina Spirit fought off all challengers to take Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes by a neck and thus stamped himself a top tier Derby hopeful for Bob Baffert. Owned by Zedan Racing Stables, Inc. and ridden by Abel Cedillo, Medina Spirit got 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.26 over a Santa Anita main track listed as “good” due to recent rains that deposited 2.4 inches of rain through noon on Friday.

Sent to the lead while head and head with Parnelli and Wipe the Slate into the clubhouse turn, Medina Spirit was pressed up the backside by Wipe the Slate, who was three quarters of length back three furlongs out. With a length advantage at the top of the stretch, Medina Spirit drifted out a bit and was immediately engaged by Hot Rod Charlie and Roman Centurian in a thrilling three-horse battle to the wire. Baffert's other entrant, Spielberg, finished fourth.

The top four finishers earned 10-4-2-1 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

“He's a very game horse,” said Cedillo, who collected his third win on the day and who has now ridden the Florida-bred colt by Protonico in all three of his races. “At the quarter pole, I didn't know, but he looked around and when he saw those horses, he kept going. He didn't get tired at all. On the gallop out (after the wire), he was by himself.”

A close second to highly regarded stablemate Life is Good going one mile in the G3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 2, Medina Spirit was heavily backed as the even-money favorite in a field of six sophomores and paid $4.00, $2.80 and $2.20.

“That reminded me a little bit of Silver Charm (1997 Kentucky Derby winner),” said Baffert, who rung up his record ninth Lewis win today. “He had every reason to give it up late in the stretch (when) those horses came to him. I thought he was beat. I thought they were going to get by and he wouldn't let them by, he fought on.

“…We just have to keep him healthy. It's a really tiring track, he went real fast early, but he showed that he had the qualities there. It's nice to win the Robert B. Lewis because it means so much to me. I would have liked my other horse (fourth place finisher Spielberg) to run better than he did, but those things happen.”

A first-out maiden winner going 5 ½ furlongs at Los Alamitos Dec. 11, Medina Spirit, who is out of the Brilliant Speed mare Mongolian Changa, was sold for just $35,000 at public auction last July after being purchased for $1,000 as a yearling – both sales at Ocala Breeders' Sales Company. With today's winnings of $60,000, he increased his earnings to $95,200 from three starts.

Trained by Simon Callaghan, Roman Centurian, an impressive 1 1/16 mile maiden winner on Jan. 3, was last early and rallied resolutely while caught five wide turning for home to best Hot Rod Charlie by a nose for second money. Off at 11-1 with Juan Hernandez, Roman Centurian paid $7.60 and $3.80.

A close second in the Grade I Breeders' Cup Juvenile Nov. 6, Doug O'Neill's Hot Rod Charlie ran huge off the bench, finishing 11 lengths clear of Spielberg. Ridden by Joel Rosario, Hot Rod Charlie was the second choice at 5-2 and paid $2.60 to show.

Fractions on the race, all set by the winner, were 22.89, 46.61, 1:12.36 and 1:39.34.

Named in honor of the late Thoroughbred owner and philanthropist Robert B. Lewis, who along with his wife Beverly, owned two Kentucky Derby winners, Silver Charm in 1997 and Charismatic in 1999, the Lewis winner receives 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, with four to second, two to third and one point to the fourth place finisher.

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From ‘Big Clown’ To Triple Crown Trail: Greatest Honour Overpowers Holy Bull Rivals

Courtlandt Farm's Greatest Honour swept to the lead on the turn into the Gulfstream Park homestretch and drew off to a 5 ¾-length victory in Saturday's $200,000 Holy Bull, establishing himself as a prime prospect for the 2021 Triple Crown.

The Holy Bull, a 1 1/16-mile prep on the Road to the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n Dale at Xalapa, headlined a 12-race program featuring five graded stakes.

Greatest Honour gave trainer Shug McGaughey his first Holy Bull victory on a Hall of Fame resume that includes Orb's victories in the 2014 Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby (G1). Orb went on to give McGaughey his first Kentucky Derby success.

The 5-2 second choice in a field of nine 3-year-olds, Greatest Honour rated near the back of the field while racing on the outside along the backstretch as Willy Boi set the pace, pressed by Tarantino and closely stalked by even-money favorite Prime Factor. Willy Boi set fractions of 23.28 and 46.97 seconds for the first half mile with Tarantino in close attendance as Greatest Honour steadily advanced along the outside. Jose Ortiz asked the McGaughey trainee for some run on the far turn, and the son of Tapit responded with a eye-catching kick that quickly carried him to the front of the pack leaving he turn into the stretch, leaving Tarantino and Prime Factor to fight it out for the minor placings.

Greatest Honour, who broke his maiden at the 1 1/16-mile distance in his fourth career start at Gulfstream Dec. 26, went on to win comfortably, completing the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.19.

“We had a clean trip. He broke fine and Jose got him over a little bit to save ground. I thought we were in good position when we turned down the backside. When he was in that kind of position, I knew they were going to have a hard time with him, because he's going to finish better than he starts,” McGaughey said. “Jose said, 'At the half-mile pole, I asked him a tad, he was there.' When he really asked him, he said that he finished up very strong. He picked up his horses quick today. He was a winner early today.”

Tarantino, who was a nose away from being undefeated in three starts on turf, held gamely under Edgard Zayas to finish second in his dirt debut, 3 ¾ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Prime Factor. Papetu finished fourth.

The top four finishers divided 17 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby on a 10-4-2-1 basis.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

Greatest Honour finished a late-closing third while sprinting in his first two career starts, before stretching out two turns at Aqueduct Nov. 8 to finish second, beaten by just a head by Known Agenda, who went on to finish third in the Remsen (G2). The Courtlandt Farms homebred broke through to graduate at Gulfstream in his next start.

“He was kind of a big clown and did what he wanted to do all summer. We got him ready to run at Saratoga. Sprinting wasn't going to be his bag, but I think those two sprint races sort of helped him to learn and learn how to finish,” McGaughey said. “We took him over to Aqueduct and he had a big race there and just got beat. He came here and his two races here have been very good. The distances helped too – two turns. I think the farther we go, the better.”

Ortiz, who had ridden Greatest Honour in his first two starts, was impressed with the progress the Kentucky-bred colt has made since the summer.

“He broke well today. I was able to have a clean run to the first turn. He sat pretty nicely. He wanted to back up a little and I tapped him on the shoulder, and he picked me up and he took me on a great ride,” Ortiz said. “I was really, really happy going to the five-eighths [pole]. I was following Prime Factor and I was just on the inside of him. Luckily, I didn't have to fight for any position. I was just able to take it. Honestly, when I put myself four-wide in the clear, I showed him the whip one time and from that point I knew I was going to have a really, really good shot to win. When we got to the quarter pole, I knew I had it.

“He took the lead and went on. I still had plenty of horse underneath me. He was playing. From the three-sixteenths [pole] to the wire, he didn't give me his 100 percent. He was just playing around,” he added.

The $300,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 27 at Gulfstream has been on McGaughey's radar.

“It's what I've had on my mind. I'm not going to leave Florida unless I'm forced to,” he said. “I won't have any trouble having him ready for the Florida Derby if I don't want to run him there.”

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Zaajel Starts Slow, Finishes Fast To Win Gulfstream’s Forward Gal

Shadwell Stable's Zaajel, a striking bay 3-year-old filly by Street Sense, stepped up from a maiden victory in her debut to a graded victory in Saturday's $100,000 Forward Gal (G3) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Luis Saez, Zaajel took the lead entering the stretch from pacesetter Queen Arella to win the Forward Gal by 1 ¼ lengths. Lady Traveler, making her first start since the Golden Rod (G3) in November, closed for the place and Wholebodemeister finished third, with Dial to Win fourth.

The top four finishers split 17 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points with 10 for first, four for second, two for third and one for fourth.

Zaajel covered seven furlongs in 1:24.72. She paid $3.20 to win as the odds-on favorite. The filly broke her maiden Dec. 20 at Gulfstream by 7 ¼ lengths.

Queen Arella went to the front in the Forward Gal and posted an opening quarter in :22.77 and a half in :46.03 before Zaajel, who broke second to last, cruised to the front entering the stretch under Saez and held safe to the finish.

“She was misbehaving in the gate and she missed the break a little,” Saez said. “After that, she just kept coming and everything went well, and she kept coming.”

“I was really pleased with the outcome. I was pretty concerned at the start. She got a little antsy in the gate and missed the break, and she put in a long, sustained run,” Pletcher said. “That's hard to do, especially in her second start going from a maiden to a graded stake. But she's trained like a quality filly and she overcame some adversity today so we're proud of her.”

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