Letruska Half Brother Blitzes to Gulfstream Maiden Win
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Lauren King
Ocotzingo breaks his maiden at Gulfstream Park
St. George Stable's homebred Ocotzingo , a half brother to champion Letruska , broke through with his first career victory and established a new track record in the process in the fifth race April 15 at Gulfstream Park.
Under the care of Letruska's trainer, Fausto Gutierrez, Ocotzingo stalked behind early fractions of :23.52 and :46.63 before driving clear down the stretch, holding sway for a one-length tally over favored Uptown Lights .
Never a factor in his first two career efforts sprinting on the Gulfstream main track, the 3-year-old son of Hard Spun raced the 5 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta track in 1:04.61 under jockey Miguel Vasquez.
Bred in Kentucky, Ocotzingo is out of the graded stakes-placed Successful Appeal mare Magic Appeal, the dam of multiple graded stakes-placed, stakes-winning Trigger Warning in addition to the brilliant Letruska. The 2021 Eclipse Award champion older mare has captured six grade 1 races and earned $2,348,529 in her 24-start career. Letruska began her 6-year-old campaign with a scintillating performance in the Feb. 26 Royal Delta Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream. Letruska recently breezed Friday morning at Keeneland in preparation for a title defense in the Apple Blossom (G1) at Oaklawn Park next week. She worked five furlongs in 1:02.40.
Magic Appeal has an unraced 2-year-old Arrogate colt named Prudencio, a yearling filly by Malibu Moon , and was bred to Curlin for the 2022 breeding season.