Baltas excited for star mares to round into form

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Richard Baltas is not too concerned about a sluggish start to the Santa Anita winter meet – two wins from 37 starters, with four seconds and eight thirds.

“I’ve been in a slump,” Baltas acknowledged. “That being said, my good horses haven’t started running yet, and I know what I have in the barn.”

Baltas entered race 7 allowance favorite Artisma on Friday at Santa Anita, along with race 6 first-time starter Mucho Dolce, a sibling to Sweet Azteca. Baltas also entered also-eligible Flash of Lightning in race 8 Friday and Modus Bestia in the $100,000 Palos Verdes Stakes on Sunday.

But the stars of the barn are 6-year-old Grade 1-winning mares Ag Bullet and Sweet Azteca. Both are being freshened at Kingfisher Farms in Central California.

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“They’re both going to race this year,” Baltas confirmed this week. “ ‘A.G.’ will be in this month, and Sweet Azteca will be in next month.

There is no rush.

“January and February, unless you’ve got a Derby horse or you’re going to Saudi, there isn’t any money to be made,” said Baltas. “I want to be around in May, and I want to be around in June and July and August and September, when they’re giving away all the money.”

Ag Bullet has won eight races and $2,977,228 from 17 starts. The turf sprinter’s most recent race was Nov. 30 at Del Mar, where she was third in the Grade 1 Matriarch at a mile. She previously finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Last summer, she beat males in the Grade 1 Jaipur at Saratoga.

Sweet Azteca won both starts last year, the Grade 2 Great Lady M. at Los Alamitos and Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo at Del Mar. Sweet Azteca, who has recurring feet issues, scratched from the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, a race in which she was the 2-1 program favorite. Previously trained by Michael McCarthy, Sweet Azteca has won seven races and $667,200 from nine starts.

“I know what I’ve got,” Baltas said. “I’ve got two Grade 1-winning fillies in the barn coming back, and if [they] get right again – goodnight, Irene.”

As for Sweet Azteca’s sibling Mucho Dulce in race 6 on Friday, Baltas said expectations are modest for his debut. Sired by Mucho Macho Man, Baltas said Mucho Dulce “probably needs to be gelded, but he’s ready to run. He’ll probably need a race, and we’ll go from there.”

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