Letruska ready for Personal Ensign following Churchill workout
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Letruska, the reigning champion older dirt female, was expected to arrive at Saratoga over the weekend after working a half-mile in 48 seconds Friday morning at Churchill Downs in preparation for the Grade 1 Personal Ensign next Saturday.
Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols had Letruska in fractions of 12.40, 24.00, 48.00, and out five furlongs in 1:00.60 under jockey Geovanni Franco.
It was the eighth consecutive work Letruska has put in at Churchill since she returned there following her last-place finish in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 11 at Belmont Park.
Trainer Fausto Gutierrez said he had planned to ship Letruska here in time to get her final work at Saratoga but changed his mind, in part because how well the mare was doing at Churchill.
“It’s very quiet there,” Gutierrez said. “We changed our mind at the last minute. She worked very good. In my opinion, she’s ready for the race.”
Letruska won last year’s Personal Ensign and then captured the Spinster as part of five-race winning streak that included four Grade 1 stakes.
This year, Letruska won the Grade 3 Royal Delta and Grade 1 Apple Blossom before being used up in a pace battle in the Phipps.
In the Personal Ensign, Letruska is expected to meet three of the four females who finished ahead of her in the Phipps – Clairiere, Malathaat, and Search Results.