Beldame or Spinster next for Letruska

ELMONT, N.Y. – Letruska, upset winner of the Grade 3 Shuvee on Aug. 30 at Saratoga, breezed a half-mile in 49.74 seconds Wednesday morning over Belmont Park’s main track, per Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch.

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Letruska, trained by Faustino Gutierrez, is being considered for the Grade 2, $150,000 Beldame here Oct. 4 or the Grade 1, $400,000 Spinster at Keeneland the same day. Gutierrez said he would decide which race to run Letruska in in about a week, so that if he did choose Keeneland, Letruska would get to train over that track. Gutierrez said he is pointing Letruska to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

It’s a matter of pick your poison when deciding between the Spinster and Beldame. The Spinster is expected to be the next start for Midnight Bisou, the champion older female of 2019, while the Beldame is expected to attract Dunbar Road, a multiple graded stakes winner who has not run since winning the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on July 11.

Gutierrez did say he is leaning toward the Beldame because he likes the one-turn configuration of the 1 1/8-mile race and she is already here. Gutierrez, who has sent the horse from Saratoga to trainer Rudy Rodriguez at Belmont, said he would likely join Letruska wherever she runs in the next week.