Despite giving trainer Fausto Gutierrez a few anxious moments in the strides before the wire, Letruska did in the $600,000 Personal Ensign Stakes Presented by Lia Infiniti (G1) what she has pretty much always done: go the lead and win yet another graded stakes.
Returning to Saratoga Race Course Aug. 28, where she took the Shuvee Stakes (G3) last year, the 5-year-old Super Saver mare broke from post 6 and was asked for speed by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. By the time the field hit the backstretch of the 1 1/8-mile race on a fast dirt track, Letruska had assumed her usual front-running position, trailed closely by longshot Miss Marissa, Swiss Skydiver, and Harvey's Lil Goil.
Running through fractions of :23.01 and :46.74, Letruska began to put distance between herself and the rest of the field, but the late-running Bonny South, Dunbar Road, and Royal Flag made a concerted run at her, running three across the track, ultimately failing to catch her.
The odds-on favorite, Letruska finished a half-length ahead of runner-up Bonny South. Royal Flag finished a head behind, with Dunbar Road another head back in fourth. Swiss Skydiver, As Time Goes By, Harvey's Lil Goil, Miss Marissa, and Graceful Princess completed the order of finish. Coming to the race off a win in the Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park, Graceful Princess was confirmed to have bled by the state veterinarian.
Treatment of Lasix is not permitted for stakes horses this year at New York Racing Association tracks, mirroring rules in Kentucky, California, and some other jurisdictions.
The Personal Ensign extends Letruska's winning streak, currently at four. She's won seven of her last nine starts at six different racetracks.
"She does all the hard work," said Ortiz. "I just pilot her. After the Apple Blossom (G1), she was doing something that we didn't know about her. We always knew she was a nice filly, but she likes to fight. She's a fighter."
Letruska was bred in Kentucky by owner/breeder St. George Stable and is out of the Successful Appeal mare Magic Appeal, who was third in the 2009 Adirondack Stakes (G2) at Saratoga. Her half brother Trigger Warning (Candy Ride ) earned $555,378, placing in several graded stakes races. Magic Appeal's most recent foals are the unraced 2-year-old Hard Spun colt named Ocotzingo, a yearling Arrogate colt, and a Malibu Moon filly born this year. She was bred to Curlin for 2022.
"The first part of the race was very important," Gutierrez said. "We take the lead and take the control. Races like this are important to win. I'm very happy because this is a race we put on the schedule."
He admitted that the late cavalry charge by a trio of graded stakes winners made him nervous.
"This is a (grade) 1, with very good horses in good form," he said. "It's not easy."
The Personal Ensign is a Breeders' Cup Challenge event for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), a race in which Letruska did not compete last year. Gutierrez plans to run her at Keeneland in the Juddmonte Spinster (G1) in October before heading west to Del Mar, the site of this year's Breeders' Cup. Letruska also won Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races for the Distaff when taking the June 5 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) and June 26 Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2).
"She has ability, but more she has a big heart," he said of the $1,936,459 earner who has a 16-1-1 record from 21 starts. "This a special horse. To have this speed and to be able to run long distances, and to have the big heart is special. Not for nothing, I think this is one of the best horses in the country."
