Letruska shrugs off quick turnaround, has easy time in Fleur de Lis

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – All else being equal, running a 3-5 shot doesn’t seem all that risky – but in the case of Letruska wheeling back Saturday in the Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs, trainer Fausto Gutierrez was setting himself up to be a punching bag.

Not to worry. Letruska toyed with five other fillies and mares Saturday in the 46th running of the Grade 2, $300,000 Fleur de Lis, winning by 5 3/4 lengths in another spectacular performance to further her stature as the leading filly or mare dirt runner in North America this year.

“It was a decision, if we lost, we have a lot of bad critics, no?” Gutierrez said afterward.

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Through the first six months of 2021, Letruska already had established herself as a clear-cut division leader by winning three graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Apple Blossom in April and the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on the June 5 Belmont Stakes undercard. A devil’s advocate may have said that running back as relatively quickly as she did, as opposed to waiting for a later race, unnecessarily jeopardized her standing at the top.

But all that was rendered moot shortly after Letruska and jockey Jose Ortiz made an easy lead past the wire the first time. With Letruska rating kindly on fractions of 24.53, 48.19, and 1:11.36 when faced with only mild pressure from her closest pursuer, Antoinette, the race had already been pretty much decided once they turned for home. Letruska won with no further urging, returning $3.40 as the heavy favorite after finishing the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.57 over a fast track.

“I was just a passenger,” Ortiz said.

Antoinette, the longest shot in the field at 22-1, turned back a sustained stretch bid by Envoutante, the 2-1 second choice, and held second by three-quarters of a length. Then came Point of Honor, Spice Is Nice, and Vault.

The Fleur de Lis is a Win and You’re In qualifier for the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar, but Letruska, owned by the St. George Stables of Mexican billionaire German Larrea, had already punched her BC ticket with a 2 3/4-length jaunt in the Phipps. There is no doubling up on paid expenses in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series.

Letruska, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare, now has won 15 of 20 career starts and 4 of 5 this year, with the only defeat coming by a head in the Grade 2 Azeri at Oaklawn Park in March.

Gutierrez said Letruska will return to training sometime next week at Keeneland, with a future race to be determined; he specifically mentioned the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 28 at Saratoga being one option. He left open the possibility of her running against males at some point later in the year, although “it would have to be a special race,” he said.

The $2 exacta (6-2) paid $50.80, the $1 trifecta (6-2-4) returned $71.80, and the 10-cent superfecta (6-2-4-1) was worth $25.01.

The Fleur de Lis was the first of seven stakes on closing day of the Churchill Downs spring meet.