Letruska works, will target Personal Ensign Stakes
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Letruska, the reigning champion in the filly-mare dirt division, breezed a half-mile Friday in 48 seconds over a fast track at Churchill in her first work since she was virtually eased as the odds-on favorite in the June 11 Ogden Phipps at Belmont.
Trainer Fausto Gutierrez said the 6-year-old mare will remain at Churchill in the coming weeks prior to making her next start in the Aug. 27 Personal Ensign at Saratoga. “She is doing good,” said Gutierrez.
Happy Jack to Jerkens
Happy Jack is being pointed to the Aug. 27 Allen Jerkens at Saratoga after winning a seven-furlong allowance at Churchill on June 19 with a career-high 88 Beyer. The Calumet Farm homebred was 14th in the Kentucky Derby and eighth in the Preakness in his two prior starts.
Based primarily in Southern California, trainer Doug O’Neill said he and his longtime assistant, Leandro Mora, “will be taking turns” overseeing the training of Happy Jack at Keeneland through the summer. “I’m not sure if the colt will have an in-between race” up to the Grade 1 Jerkens, Happy Jack is being pointed to the Aug. 27 Allen Jerkens at Saratoga after winning a seven-furlong allowance at Churchill on June 19 with a career-high 88 Beyer. The Calumet Farm homebred was 14th in the Kentucky Derby and eighth in the Preakness in his two prior starts.
Based primarily in Southern California, trainer Doug O’Neill said he and his longtime assistant, Leandro Mora, “will be taking turns” overseeing the training of Happy Jack at Keeneland through the summer. “I’m not sure if the colt will have an in-between race” up to the Grade 1 Jerkens,
* Fields are set for the three stakes that end the 42-day spring meet Monday. A pair of 2-year-old fixtures, the Bashford Manor (race 6) and Debutante (race 7), directly precede the Hanshin (race 8) when highlighting a nine-race finale that starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern. Sunshine and a high of 93 are in the closing-day forecast.
* Ellis Park will be celebrating the 100-year anniversary of its 1922 founding with a summer meet that starts Friday and runs through Aug. 28. Unfortunately, sections of the western Kentucky track are in dire need of upgrades that have not been undertaken since its New Mexico owners assumed control in 2019, and purses will be lower than in recent years.