Breeders' Cup Distaff: Letruska sets sights on next year
DEL MAR, Calif. – A wicked pace derailed favorite Letruska in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Saturday at Del Mar, but the morning after her 10th-place finish trainer Fausto Gutierrez was looking forward to next year.
Gutierrez said Sunday that plans call for Letruska to campaign at age 6. “We need to be there at Keeneland,” Gutierrez said, referring to the 2022 Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 4-5. Letruska trained at Keeneland most of spring through fall. She won her only start over the track on Oct. 10 in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes.
Gutierrez said Letruska “scoped clean” after the Distaff, adding that “everything is in order, she came back good. The idea is to give her a small (rest) for two or three weeks, and after that, prepare for the next year.”
Letruska will welcome the rest after an excruciating pace duel in the Distaff. Letruska pressed suicidal fractions set by Private Mission – 21.84, 44.97 and 1:09.70 - before both called it quits. Private Mission finished last of 11.
Marche Lorraine ($101.80), making her first start outside Japan, won the Distaff by a nose over Dunbar Road. Marche Lorraine went off at 49-1.
Letruska this year emerged as the top older filly or mare in the U.S. by winning six of eight starts, including four Grade 1s – Apple Blossom, Ogden Phipps, Personal Ensign, and Spinster.
Despite her also-ran finish in the Distaff, Letruska is an early favorite to win the 2021 Eclipse Award as outstanding older filly or mare. She has won 17 of 23 starts for owner-breeder German Larrea.
Among the fillies Letruska could meet next year include a trio of 3-year-old fillies who ran in the Distaff – two who finished in front of her, and the pace rival who contributed to her defeat.
Plans call for Malathaat, Clairiere, and front-runner Private Mission – third, fourth and 11th in the Distaff – to race next season at age 4 pending post-race examination.
Malathaat, third in the Distaff, is an early favorite to win the 2021 Eclipse as outstanding 3-year-old filly after a campaign that includes three Grade 1 wins – Kentucky Oaks, Alabama, and Ashland at Keeneland.
According to trainer Todd Pletcher, Shadwell Farms will race Malathaat next year. Shadwell owner Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum passed away in March, but his daughter Sheikha Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum has indicated to Pletcher and Shadwell vice president/general manager Rick Nichols that Malathaat would campaign at 4.
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Pletcher said Malathaat will “go back to Shadwell in Lexington, get a physical and time off, and we’ll start to talk about a 4-year-old campaign.”
Malathaat has won six of eight starts.
Clairiere, fourth in the Distaff, will winter at Fair Grounds and campaign at 4. Steve Asmussen trains Clairiere for owner-breeder Stonestreet Stables. Asmussen assistant Scott Blasi said Sunday, “I’m looking forward to her 4-year-old year. She’s getting better and better.”
Private Mission finished last after the Distaff pace duel. Trainer Bob Baffert said prior to the race that plans called for her to race in California next year. The Distaff was her sixth career start; she has won four.
Grade 1 winner Shedaresthedevil, a 4-year-old who finished sixth in the Distaff, is entered in Fasig-Tipton's select breeding stock sale in Lexington on Nov. 9. Her new owners could race her at age 5, or retire her for breeding purposes.
- additional reporting by Jay Privman