Breeders' Cup Distaff

DEL MAR, CA - With trainer Peter Miller looking on--and sporting a hoodie from his two-win performance at the 2018 Championships at Churchill Downs--streaking GI Breeders' Cup Mile contender Mo Forza (Uncle Mo) took a stroll through the Del Mar paddock on a brisk and cloudy Wednesday morning just before 7 a.m. Del Mar President and General Manager Joe Harper made his way to the well-attended WinStar and Fasig-Tipton Trackside Breakfast Marquee as GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies co-second choice Juju's Map (Liam's Map) galloped strongly with her neck arched....

DEL MAR, CA--It's fair to say that former turf writer Fausto Gutierrez does not fit the mold of a typical trainer at the Breeders' Cup World Championships. While the background in media sets the outgoing 54-year-old Gutierrez apart, he is a veteran horseman with loads of experience and massive success in Mexico. His first starter in the Breeders' Cup is Letruska (Super Saver), the 5-year-old mare who is the 8-5 favorite on the morning line in the $2-million Distaff. Gutierrez has developed the Kentucky-bred for St George Stable LLC, owned...

Popular star distaffer Letruska (Super Saver) took another step toward a potential Horse of the Year trophy Sunday at Keeneland, rolling to her fourth Grade I victory and sixth graded stakes win overall on the year as a heavy favorite in the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. A dual Group 1 winner in Mexico for Fausto Gutierrez in 2019, Letruska stamped herself as a horse to watch with an impressive wire-to-wire score in last summer's GIII Shuvee S. at Saratoga and, after disappointing when finishing a well-beaten fourth in Belmont's GII...

Lightly raced Private Mission handled older foes with aplomb Sunday, earning a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in the process. A debut winner sprinting here nearly a year ago, the bay was a speed-and-fade fourth at odds-on in the following month's Desi Arnaz S. at Del Mar and subsequently went missing. She reappeared to annex a local optional claimer in June, and took to two turns emphatically when romping by 6 1/2 lengths in Del Mar's GIII Torrey Pines S. Aug. 21. Keeping...

Two-time champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar--Drumette, by Henny Hughes) has been retired from racing after she was discovered to have sustained an injury during training Tuesday at Churchill Downs, co-owner Spendthrift Farm announced Wednesday. "Monomoy Girl went out for a routine gallop Tuesday morning and came back a little off in her right front leg. We had it x-rayed and found a non-displaced fracture of the sesamoid. Obviously, we're very disappointed," said trainer Brad Cox. "She's walking sound today and it's not anything that will require surgery. It's just unfortunate that...

A pair of Belmont-based Grade I winners turned in works over the last few days and will be trained up to the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar Nov. 5 and 6, their trainers confirmed Sept. 19. Shadwell Stables' 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) breezed an easy four furlongs over the Belmont training track Sept. 18 in :49.49, her first breeze since winning the GI Alabama S. at Saratoga Aug. 19. She will not have another start prior to the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar Nov. 6. "It...

Divisional leader Letruska (Super Saver) looks to continue her domination of the distaff division as the heavy favorite in Saturday's GI Personal Ensign S., a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in November. Opening 2021 with a victory in the GIII Houston Ladies Classic, she suffered her only loss this season when a head second to GI Kentucky Oaks victress Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) in the GII Azeri S. at Oaklawn Mar. 13. Out-nosing two-time Eclipse winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Apple Blossom H. Apr. 17,...

Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) sat off a quick early pace, pounced at the five-sixteenths pole and edged clear in the lane to capture the GI Clement L. Hirsch S. Sunday at Del Mar, punching her ticket to the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff in the "Win and You're In" qualifier with her third Grade I victory. Bought into by Qatar Racing out of a debut victory for Norm Casse in June of 2019 and transferred to Simon Callaghan, the bay went winless in three subsequent starts as a juvenile, but still hammered...

Entering this test on the back of a pair of Grade I wins, Letruska (Super Saver) was installed as the overwhelming favorite at 4-5 and more than justified those odds, running an overmatched field off their feet in Churchill's GII Fleur de Lis S. This event was a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar. Veering right a bit exiting her outside post, Letruska went straight to the front under Jose Ortiz and clocked opening splits of :24.533 and :48.19 with Antoinette...

Don't get me wrong. I respect Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). She's right up there among the best fillies and mares to compete in any of our lifetimes. But there was something routine about her victory in Sunday's GIII Bayakoa S. at Oaklawn Park. It was the 16th chapter in what has essentially been the same story from the start. In 15 of her 16 races, she has crossed the wire first, always against fillies and mares while winning in a manner better described as professional rather than breathtaking. There were some...

Seven hips after her onetime rival Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) brought the hammer down for $5 million, champion and Saturday's dazzling GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine Monomoy Girl (Tapizar--Drumette, by Henny Hughes) set a clear new highwater mark at the 'Night of the Stars' when selling to Spendthrift Farm for a jaw-dropping $9.5 million Sunday at Fasig-Tipton November. Spendthrift also brought home Got Stormy (Get Stormy) for $2.75 million earlier in the sale. Sold as hip 192 by ELiTE Sales, Monomoy Girl is one of the most popular mares...

Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) completed a sensational championship season in 2018 with a victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs. After a series of medical issues forced her to miss her entire 4-year-old season in 2019, the Eclipse winner proved to be better than ever in her return to action this year, capping a perfect 2020 campaign with another victory in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland Saturday. Monomoy Girl was hammered down to even-money favoritism in an event billed as a match race between the top...