Sweet Azteca, after Great Lady M. triumph, may target Ballerina

CYPRESS, Calif. - Sweet Azteca, the easy winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos, missed an intended start in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs on May 4 because of a minor injury.

There may still be an important road trip for Sweet Azteca outside of California this year.

In the minutes after the Great Lady M. Stakes, trainer Michael McCarthy hinted that the Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap, a $500,000 race at seven furlongs for fillies and mares at Saratoga on Aug. 24, is a possible late summer goal.

“She will be nominated to everything coast to coast,” he said.

From a prize money perspective, the Ballerina is considerably more attractive than the leading sprint for fillies and mares at Del Mar, the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Stakes on Aug. 25. The Rancho Bernardo is worth $100,000 and run at 6 1/2 furlongs.

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If Sweet Azteca is sent to the Ballerina, she will start on the strength of a career-best effort in the Great Lady M. Stakes. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Sweet Azteca stalked pacesetter Daddysruby through a fast pace before taking the lead in early stretch.

Sweet Azteca ($3.40) won by five lengths over 7-1 Daddysruby, finishing 6 1/2 furlongs in track record time of 1:14.33 without being urged in the final strides. The previous mark of 1:14.48 was set by Finest City, who won the 2016 Great Lady M Stakes. Later that year, Finest City won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita and was named the champion female sprinter for that season.

Sweet Azteca was always within a length of the front in the Great Lady M. She set the pace in some of her previous starts.

“It was nice to see her sit off that way,” McCarthy said. “It looked like she was playing a bit at the top of the lane. When she leveled off, she got the job done.”

Sweet Azteca earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 106, the highest of the year for an older filly or mare in a sprint this year. Vahva earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 103 with her win in the Derby City Distaff at seven furlongs in 1:21.75.

McCarthy trains Sweet Azteca for owner and breeder Pamela Ziebarth. Sweet Azteca won the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita on March 9, but was out of training briefly in April after sustaining a knee injury in her stall. The setback cost Sweet Azteca a start in the Derby City Distaff.

The win in the Great Lady M. Stakes was Sweet Azteca’s first start since the Beholder Mile.

“I was anxious to get her started today with a four-month layoff,” McCarthy said. “I’m glad to get this one over.”

Sweet Azteca won the Beholder Mile by three-quarters of a length over Adare Manor, who was having her first start of 2024. Adare Manor closed steadily on Sweet Azteca late in the Beholder, giving McCarthy a hint of how far Sweet Azteca may prefer.

“You don’t know how much more she wants to go,” McCarthy said.

Adare Manor is unbeaten in two subsequent starts – the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park in April and the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on May 26.

Adare Manor, who worked a half-mile in 46.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Saturday for trainer Bob Baffert, is expected to start in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Aug. 3, a race she won in 2023.

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