Ag Bullet resumes training with sights on Kentucky Downs repeat

Ag Bullet, the 5-year-old mare who beat males in the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at Saratoga on June 8, has resumed training after a brief rest.

Trainer Richard Baltas said on Thursday that Ag Bullet had a three-week break after the Jaipur and is being prepared for the Grade 2 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint, a $2 million race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 30. Ag Bullet won the same race in 2024 when it had a purse of $1.5 million.

In the $500,000 Jaipur Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, Ag Bullet stalked the pace and won by two lengths for her seventh win in 14 starts for owners Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran.

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The partners also own the Baltas-trained Scipio, a stakes winner at Santa Anita in February who finished fourth in the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 31. Scipio had a quiet first few weeks of June at a Kentucky farm, Baltas said.

“I think he was a little tired,” Baltas said. “We gave him some time and let relax and let him eat some grass.”

Baltas said the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 3 is a possible goal for Scipio. The La Jolla Handicap is a prep race for the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Aug. 31. The $300,000 Del Mar Derby is the leading race for 3-year-olds at the Del Mar summer meeting.

Scipio won the Baffle Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita earlier this year. His best finish in three starts in Kentucky in the spring was a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland in April.

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