Baltas, with Sweet Azteca and Ag Bullet, likes his Breeders' Cup chances

DEL MAR, Calif. - The groundwork is nearly complete.

In coming weeks, the 5-year-old mares Ag Bullet and Sweet Azteca will start in graded stakes designed as prep races for the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

Sweet Azteca will be favored to win the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar next Sunday.

Ag Bullet is being readied for a start in the Grade 2 Ladies Turf Sprint, a $2 million race for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 30.

The two were winners in their last starts – Ag Bullet in the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes against males at Saratoga on June 8, and Sweet Azteca in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 5.

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For Richard Baltas, who trains the pair, there is a lot to look forward to.

“I could have two very solid horses in the Breeders’ Cup,” Baltas said on Sunday.

Sweet Azteca, owned by Pamela Ziebarth, worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 at Del Mar on Sunday under jockey Juan Hernandez. Baltas clocked Sweet Azteca in 1:00.80.

Baltas described Sweet Azteca’s effort as “real easy work.”

“She finished nicely, not too fast. She’s been working steadily every week.

“Juan has been working her every week and he said she’s hitting the ground good. That’s all that matters.”

Sweet Azteca won her first start for Baltas in the Great Lady M. Stakes, having previously been trained by Michael McCarthy. Sweet Azteca won the 2024 Rancho Bernardo by seven lengths, but finished fourth in the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita last October in her final start of 2024.

The BC Filly and Mare Sprint at seven furlongs on Nov. 1 is the main goal.

Ag Bullet, who races for Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran, will be sold at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in Kentucky on Nov. 3, Baltas said on Sunday. Last fall, she was third by a neck in the BC Turf Sprint at Del Mar.

On Sunday at Del Mar, Ag Bullet worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 on turf.

The Jaipur Stakes, at 5 1/2 furlongs, is the most prestigious win of Ag Bullet’s career.

“She’s as good as she’s ever been, in my opinion,” he said.

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