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.

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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:

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

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