Ag Bullet, Sweet Azteca to train up to Breeders' Cup
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Ag Bullet, the winner of the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at Saratoga in June and the Grade 2 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint on Aug. 30 in her last two starts, will not race again until the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1, trainer Richard Baltas said.
“We’ll freshen her and get her ready for Breeders’ Cup,” Baltas said on Friday.
This year’s BC Turf Sprint is likely to be Ag Bullet’s last start for owners Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran. The 5-year-old mare is scheduled to be sold at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November mixed sale on Nov. 3, Baltas said.
Baltas said that Ag Bullet’s “best chance” to win the BC Turf Sprint is to do so after a brief layoff.
“She’s back in Del Mar,” he said. “We’ll give her a week off.”
In the Ladies Turf Sprint, Ag Bullet led throughout the 6 1/2-furlong race, winning by three-quarters of a length as the 8-5 favorite in a field of 12. In the Jaipur at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf against males, Ag Bullet raced just behind the early pace.
In the five-furlong BC Turf Sprint at Del Mar last November, Ag Bullet closed from sixth of 11 to finish third by a neck to Starlust.
Ag Bullet has won 8 of 15 starts and earned $2,771,228.
Baltas is planning a similarly patient approach with Sweet Azteca, the easy winner of the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 24. Sweet Azteca will not race again until the seven-furlong BC Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 1.
“She can come in fresh,” Baltas said.
Owned by Pamela Ziebarth, Sweet Azteca has won 7 of 9 starts and earned $667,200. She is unbeaten in two starts this year, having won her first start since October in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs in track record time of 1:14.32 at Los Alamitos on July 5.
Sweet Azteca resumed jogging earlier this week in preparation for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, Baltas said.
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