SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Letruska showed her heart and determination when she turned back reigning female champion Monomoy Girl to win the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap during the spring at Oaklawn Park. She arguably had to dig down even deeper on Saturday at Saratoga, fending off a bevy of challengers throughout the race before finally prevailing by a half-length over Bonny South in the Grade 1, $600,000 Personal Ensign. The victory should have Letruska firmly entrenched atop the division with her main goal of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff now squarely in her sights. With Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time since the Apple Blossom, Letruska had to work a bit before finally assuming her familiar position on the lead nearly a quarter-mile into the nine-furlong Personal Ensign. Letruska set a strong pace while staked by longshot Miss Marissa to her outside and Swiss Skydiver on the rail in the run down the backstretch. Harvey’s Lil Goil was next to take a shot at the leader, making a strong bid outside horses on the second bend. Letruska turned back her early pursuers and remained clear turning into the stretch, where she picked up a new set of challengers. Dunbar Road loomed menacingly out in the middle of the track and both Bonny South and Royal Flag made their runs between horses. But Letruska was able to withstand them all, narrowly prevailing over Bonny South with a pair of heads separating Royal Flag in third and Dunbar Road in fourth. It was nearly eight lengths farther back to Swiss Skydiver in fifth. She was followed by As Time Goes By, a tiring Harvey’s Lil Goil, Miss Marissa and Graceful Princess, who was eased to the wire and bled per the state veterinarian.  The Personal Ensign was the fourth win in a row and third Grade 1 victory this season for Letruska, a 5-year-old daughter of Super Saver. Her lone setback in six starts this year was a head defeat when she was rated off the early lead in the Grade 2 Azeri at Oaklawn Park five weeks prior to the Apple Blossom. Letruska, a St. George Stables homebred, has been campaigned brilliantly throughout her career by trainer Fausto Gutierrez. She completed the distance in 1:49.15 over a fast track and paid $3.50 as a prohibitive favorite in a field of nine older fillies and mares. Letruska was given a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. :: Get DRF Betting Strategies for exclusive analysis and wager recommendations from our expert handicappers. Letruska went the first half-mile of the Personal Ensign in 46.74 seconds, which Gutierrez called “a good fraction.” “At the end of the race, she had to give extra and she had it to give,” he said. “Races like this are important to win. I’m very happy because this is one of the races we put on the schedule. We never had a question - we had to run at Saratoga. This is a Group 1, against very important horses. It’s not easy to kick again like that. Every place she runs, she fights. She has a big heart. She’s a special horse. To have this much speed and go this long distance, not for nothing she’s one of the top horses in the country.” Gutierrez said he plans to ship Letruska back to Keeneland to prepare for the Grade 1 Spinster on Oct. 10 as her final stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 6. Trainer Brad Cox said he was proud of Bonny South in defeat. “It was a big effort,” he said. “We got the setup I thought we would. Our filly ran a big race but that mare on the lead is really good. She’s special.” As her performance in the Personal Ensign attests, indeed she is.