Letruska continues to climb the charts in the filly and mare ranks, as she won her second consecutive Grade 3 race Sunday in the $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston Race Park. The 5-year-old was coming off a win in the Grade 3 Rampart in December at Gulfstream Park. Letruska was a 3 1/2-length winner over Ujjayi, while it was another four lengths back in third to Lady Apple. The Houston Ladies Classic was the richest offering of the meet at Sam Houston. It anchored a card that featured six stakes worth a cumulative $950,000. :: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more. Letruska was a champion in her native Mexico at 3 and, late in her sophomore season, came to the United States. She won the Grade 3 Shuvee last year at Saratoga, and is now on the path for a potential start in the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom on April 17 at Oaklawn. “She’s been meeting quality, and she’s ready,” said trainer Fausto Gutierrez, adding final decisions will be made after discussions with St. George Stables. Letruska ($2.80) broke well in the Houston Ladies Classic and moved to the lead soon after the start of the 1 1/16-mile race, setting fractions of 23.66 for the opening quarter, 48.56 for the half-mile and 1:12.99 for six furlongs, while facing some pace pressure from Motion Emotion. Letruska started to move away from her rivals coming to the quarter pole, and went on to cover the distance on a fast track in 1:45.02. Jesus Castanon was aboard Sunday. “I just rode her with a lot of confidence,” he said in a post-race interview broadcast by Sam Houston. “She just got the job done. “She wanted to keep going. She didn’t want to pull up.” Gutierrez also liked the finish from Letruska. “We are very happy with her,” he said. “She’s a wonderful filly.” Letruska is a daughter of Super Saver who was bred by St. George Stables. Gutierrez said plans going forward will be set after the connections see how Letruska emerges from her race, with the hope to target at least the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn. The local prep for the race is the Grade 3, $350,000 Azeri on March 13. Midnight Bisou won the Houston Ladies Classic, the Azeri and the Apple Blossom as part of her championship campaign in 2019. Letruska ascended to the top of her division as a 3-year-old in Mexico, when she won two thirds of that country’s Triple Crown for fillies. She has now won five stakes in the United States, among them the Copa Invitacional del Caribe over older males at Gulfstream Park in 2019. Letruska earned $176,400 for her win in the Houston Ladies Classic. She has now won 12 of 16 starts and has earned $487,319. Letruska is a half-sister to the multiple stakes winner Trigger Warning, who earned more than $500,000. She invaded Sam Houston from her base of Palm Meadows, a training center in South Florida.