Ag Bullet back to chase third straight Ladies Turf Sprint win
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The Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint is not the only reason connections brought the mare Ag Bullet back this year for a 6-year-old campaign – but it’s a big reason why they did.
The Ladies Turf Sprint is worth $1.75 million, and Ag Bullet has won it the last two years, a large swath of her $3 million bankroll. Absolutely brilliant two seasons ago, running perhaps the best race of her career, Ag Bullet won last year’s renewal by a diminishing three-quarters of a length. But on paper, she outclasses 11 rivals Saturday and should prevail as the favorite.
Just like last year, Ag Bullet comes to Kentucky Downs a fresh horse, her last start the Grade 1 Jaipur in early June. She won the Jaipur last year making her second start after a winter break, and this year finished a strong second behind a very sharp Reef Runner while racing for the first time since November.
“She’s pretty much the same now as ever, but a little more professional,” said Richard Baltas, who trains Ag Bullet for Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran. “She’s been working every week on turf at Del Mar. She’s got good weight on her.”
Half the battle at Kentucky Downs is handling the unique course. Ag Bullet loves it, and the Ladies Turf Sprint distance suits her perfectly. Standard short American sprints are slightly too sharp for Ag Bullet, who can’t quite stay a two-turn mile in elite company.
Florent Geroux rides Ag Bullet for the first time and was aboard the mare for her most recent work Aug. 23 at Del Mar. Ag Bullet breezed outside a partner and grudgingly allowed herself to be reined in to basically stay alongside the other horse. Had Geroux asked her at all, Ag Bullet would have drawn clear by many lengths. It was a work suggesting a top horse still at the peak of her powers.
“She’s got speed, but she can sit now, too. She’s good and sound and ready to roll,” Baltas said.
There’s surprisingly little early speed in the Ladies Turf Sprint, and only In Our Time might be able to keep pace with Ag Bullet. More likely: Geroux, drawn inside In Our Time, lets his mount roll to the lead and show her talent.
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Other chances do exist, especially the European shipper Sayidah Dariyan. At her very best, 4-year-old Sayidah Dariyan finished fourth, beaten only 1 1/2 lengths, in the 21-runner, Group 1 Commonwealth Cup over a straight six furlongs last summer at Royal Ascot. She ran back to that performance in her next start but tailed off through the rest of her 2025 campaign.
In only her third start this season, the Group 3 Oak Tree at Goodwood, where Sayidah Dariyan finished a good second going seven furlongs, did she approach last year’s peak. The filly has appeared at least as comfortable in her turning races as going down a straightaway, has a versatile running style, and suits this spot.
Via Arana got a great setup winning the one-mile Nassau last out at Woodbine, and Movin’ On Up – In Our Time’s Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained stablemate – got perhaps an even better one rallying from last into a scorching pace to capture the Grade 2 Caress last month at Saratoga.
Zeitlos has run decently at Kentucky Downs but beat a considerably lesser group of listed stakes foes Aug. 14 at Saratoga.
The horse Baltas said he most fears is Cloe, a well-beaten second behind an in-form Shisospicy racing over the Kentucky Downs course last September. Cloe changed trainers before her 2026 campaign and now resides in Mike Maker’s barn, and she has turned in increasingly sharp performances in a three-race form cycle this summer.
To keep Ag Bullet from winning her third Ladies Sprint, Cloe will need something even better.
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