Ag Bullet pointing toward Eddie D or Goldikova

After a course-record performance in the Grade 2 Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 31, Ag Bullet could reappear this fall in a variety of races, including two diverse Grade 2 stakes – the $750,000 Eddie D Stakes against males at Santa Anita on Sept. 28, or the $300,000 Goldikova Stakes against fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2.

Trainer Richard Baltas said on Thursday the lucrative Eddie D Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course is an intriguing option considering Ag Bullet’s record on the course. She is unbeaten in two starts on the hillside – the Wishing Well Stakes and Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes for fillies and mares in February and April in her first two starts this year.

More recently, Ag Bullet won a productive running of the restricted Osunitas Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar on July 21 leading to a commanding win by 5 1/4 lengths in the $1.37 million Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes.

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“It seems like she’s really sharp right now,” Balta said. “We’re going to nominate for the Eddie D Stakes.”

Hang the Moon, second in the Osunitas, returned to win the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes in an upset at Del Mar last weekend.

In the Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes, Ag Bullet ran 6 1/2 furlongs in course record time of 1:14.19. The previous mark of 1:14.27 was set by County Final in an allowance race in September 2023.

In the long-term, Baltas hopes to start Goldikova in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes, a $300,000 race for fillies and mares at Del Mar on Dec. 1, a race that annually draws a national field.

“I’d like to win a Grade 1 with her,” he said. “That would be awesome.”

Baltas said the 4-year-old Ag Bullet emerged from her recent win in “good shape.”

Owned by Joey Tran and Calvin Nguyen, Ag Bullet surpassed $1 million in career earnings in the Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes. She has won 6 of 9 starts and earned $1,176,140 and has been the most successful runner in Baltas’s 65-horse stable this year.

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