As comebacks go, Sweet Azteca was perfect at Los Alamitos on July 5, winning the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes in track-record time in her first start since October. Seven weeks later, Sweet Azteca will be a massive favorite to win Sunday’s Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at Del Mar, a race she won by seven lengths as the 1-10 favorite in 2024. Sunday’s race and her hard-earned win in the Great Lady M. Stakes are designed to have Sweet Azteca ready for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1. Last year, Sweet Azteca did not start in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint after finishing last of four in the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita in October. Sweet Azteca was transferred from trainer Michael McCarthy to Richard Baltas last winter. Sweet Azteca, owned and bred by Pamela Ziebarth, had her first start for Baltas in the Great Lady M. Stakes. A 5-year-old mare, Sweet Azteca lowered her own track record for 6 1/2 furlongs from 1:14.33 when she won the race in 2024 to 1:14.32 this year. Sweet Azteca, who will be ridden by leading rider Juan Hernandez and carries top weight of 126 pounds, drew the outside post in a field of five on Sunday. She is one of two graded stakes winners in the field along with Chismosa, who was third in the Great Lady M. Stakes but ninth of 10 in the Daisycutter Handicap on turf on July 26. :: Play to Win at Del Mar! Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Picks, and Betting Strategies all in one place.  The $100,000 Rancho Bernardo will mark the stakes debuts of Donttellourwives, the winner of an allowance race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos on June 29, and Formula Rossa, who is unbeaten in two starts. Visually, third in the Daisycutter, starts on dirt for the first time in the Rancho Bernardo after 17 starts on grass or a synthetic surface. The field does not include Kopion, a three-time sprint stakes winner since Christmas who was second in both the Great Lady M. Stakes and the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Aug. 2. She is scheduled to resume racing this fall and is a candidate for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint. From an outside post on Sunday, Sweet Azteca will be forward, Baltas insists, regardless of whether an intriguing runner such as Formula Rossa shows speed. Formula Rossa, trained by Mark Glatt, closed from third to win a six-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita in February. In her first start against winners, Formula Rossa led throughout a six-furlong allowance race at Del Mar on Aug. 3, drawing clear to win by 6 1/2 lengths as the 1-5 favorite. Should Formula Rossa try to set the pace, Sweet Azteca will be close. “If she wants to go to the lead, we’ll be right on her tail,” Baltas said. “If we break sharp and we make the lead, so be it. Our filly is fast as well.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.