Letruska makes it two straight Apple Blossom wins
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The champion Letruska has excelled at every task her connections have given her during her illustrious career and she reached another high point Saturday at Oaklawn Park when she joined some elite company in winning her second consecutive Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap.
She is now part of a four-horse club of multiple winners of the Apple Blossom. Azeri leads the group with three, while the other two-time winners are Paseana and Zenyatta.
Letruska won last year’s Apple Blossom over champions Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver and by year’s end she had captured the Eclipse Award as champion older female of 2021. Earlier in her career, she won her first seven races in a streak that began in Mexico for her breeder and owner, St. George Stable, and her longtime trainer, Fausto Gutierrez.
“Fausto has done an amazing job with her,” said Jose Ortiz, who was aboard Letruska on Saturday. “He’s been rewarded with her. She’s a very nice mare.”
Letruska ($3.80) faced another standout cast in this year’s Apple Blossom, including a fellow reigning champion in Ce Ce, the outstanding female sprinter of 2021. Letruska warmed up significantly prior to the start of the Apple Blossom, and proceeded to dictate the pace right out of the gate, setting fractions of 23.77 seconds for the opening quarter, 47.26 for the half-mile and 1:11.30 for six furlongs. In the stretch, she fought off Ce Ce, then Clairiere, for a 1 1/4-length win over the latter. It was another half-length back in third to Ce Ce.
“She broke clean, very nicely,” Ortiz said. “We hit the first turn, she relaxed well and was very happy on the backside. At the three-eighths pole, I looked over and saw Ce Ce coming, so I let her out a little bit and she responded. She saw Ce Ce to the right and she dug in.”
Letruska went on to cover the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:42.22. It was the fastest Apple Blossom since 2011, when Havre de Grace won the race in 1:42.19.
Letruska was given a 103 Beyer Speed Figure.
Ortiz or his brother, Irad Ortiz Jr., have ridden Letruska dating back to last year’s Apple Blossom, which she won under Irad Ortiz. Jose Ortiz won last year’s Ogden Phipps at Fleur de Lis aboard the mare and was up for her Royal Delta win in February at Gulfstream Park.
“She’s a runner,” Jose Ortiz said. “She came out of the gate running. She relaxed and then she kept going. She has a lot of attitude, which I like. She fights. She likes to run and she loves what she does.”
Jose Ortiz said Letruska is also a stronger mare physically in 2022.
“She’s more built up,” he said. “She’s very strong, and very powerful.”
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Gutierrez has brought Letruska up the ranks with a well thought-out gameplan.
“At Oaklawn, the month of April of 2020, she won a nice allowance and we started to speak about the potential she had,” he said. “One year after that, she won an incredible Apple Blossom. Now she’s 6 years old and having another campaign. I know all these races are difficult, but I think, too, she seems to have the power and quality and all the [attributes] she needs to be in the top position [in her division] again.”
The Apple Blossom is one of two Grade 1 races in the Southwest region, with the other being the Arkansas Derby. It was showcased on a 12-race card that included the Grade 2, $1 million Oaklawn Handicap.
The stakes are part of the Racing Festival of the South, which features major races throughout April. The Apple Blossom was slotted as the fifth race, and the infield was open on a sunny afternoon approaching 80 degrees.
Ce Ce was returning to Oaklawn after winning the Grade 2 Azeri in March. She also had won the Apple Blossom in 2020. The race Saturday did not unfold in her favor, as Ce Ce had to engage earlier and made an extended run from the five-eighths pole to the wire, noted trainer Michael McCarthy.
“A small field, no pace, that’s what happens,” he said. “It’s never ideal. We were 2 for 2 over the track. We had to take a shot.”
Letruska has now won the two lone $1 million runnings of the Apple Blossom. She earned $600,000 for her effort Saturday to push her career record to 19 wins from 25 starts for earnings of $2,948,529. Letruska is a daughter of Super Saver.