Sweet Azteca runs away with Rancho Bernardo Handicap
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DEL MAR, Calif. - She set a track record with a five-length win in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos in July. For an easier win in Sunday’s Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at Del Mar, Sweet Azteca was not urged enough to threaten the track record.
Allowed an uncontested lead, Sweet Azteca was clear throughout and won by seven lengths under jockey Flavien Prat, finishing 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.60. The track record of 1:13.60 was set in 1988 by Native Paster.
“I was cruising,” Prat said. “I thought someone would go with me. It was easy.”
Sweet Azteca paid a mere $2.20. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 101. The win, her fifth in six starts, was her third stakes win of the year. She is the standout female sprinter in California.
Trained by Michael McCarthy for owner and breeder Pamela Ziebarth, Sweet Azteca is a leading candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 2. With that race at Del Mar this year, McCarthy and Ziebarth chose to start Sweet Azteca in the $100,500 Rancho Bernardo over the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.
Sweet Azteca, a 4-year-old filly by Sharp Azteca, started from post 4 in a field of six in the Rancho Bernardo. Away well, she led by a length after an opening quarter-mile in 22.08 seconds and by 1 1/2 lengths after a half-mile in 45.06.
The chasing pack was never a threat. Chismosa, the winner of two stakes at Santa Anita earlier this year, but only seventh in the Great Lady M. Stakes, closed from fifth to finish second at 6-1, a nose in front 10-1 Anywho. The remaining order of finish was Irish Wahine, Tom’s Regret and Vitalera.
The stewards conducted a five-minute inquiry into an incident in the stretch run, focusing on whether Chismosa and Anywho made contact. The order of finish was not changed.
Tom’s Regret, a stakes winner on the Northern California fair circuit in June, had a disrupted trip. A 16-1 outsider, Tom’s Regret veered sharply to the inside in the opening furlong and was quickly at the back of the field. Tom’s Regret typically races near the front.
“I think she hit herself and got spooked,” jockey Kyle Frey said. “On the backstretch, I could tell she was all right. She pulled up great.”
Sweet Azteca has won 5 of 6 starts and earned $481,200. Earlier this year, she won the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita, finishing three-quarters of a length in front of Adare Manor, who has since won three consecutive graded stakes for fillies and mares around two turns.
In the Great Lady M. Stakes, Sweet Azteca disputed the early pace before pulling clear to finish 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.33. Her winning tactics were easier on Sunday.
“It was different than her race at Los Al when everyone bombed out of there,” McCarthy said. “Today, it looked like she had run on her mind.”
McCarthy’s admiration for Sweet Azteca was noticeable in the winner’s circle. He said a decision will be made in coming weeks whether she will start in a race such as the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Oct. 5 as a prep race for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.
“Things come to her naturally,” McCarthy said.
“We’ll see how she is out of it. She makes our job easy.”
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