Sweet Azteca

On paper, it didn't look like Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca) could lose in last Saturday's GIII Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita. Instead, the Grade I winner was last in the field of four, losing to One Magic Philly (Good Magic) by 8 3/4 lengths in what was the worst start of her career. Trainer Michael McCarthy reports that he can find no reason why she ran so poorly and is still aiming for he GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. "She is fine," McCarthy said. "There's no issues. All...

Trainer Phil D'Amato reported One Magic Philly (Good Magic) and Hang the Moon (Uncle Mo) were doing well after their graded stakes victories Saturday at Santa Anita and both fillies are under consideration for Breeders' Cup engagements. Hang the Moon earned a fees-paid berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf with her upset win in Saturday's GII Rodeo Drive Stakes. "She paid her way [to the Breeders' Cup]. If she continues to train well, that's where we'll go," D'Amato said Sunday morning. One Magic Philly won her...

One Magic Philly came into Saturday's GIII Chillingworth Stakes having displayed marked improvement with each of her last three races and her return to Santa Anita gave her yet another notch in her belt after she crossed the wire on top in the 6 1/2-furlong test, earning her first taste of black-type in the process. Quickly up to press heavy favorite Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca), winner of the GI Beholder Mile last March, the 7-2 chance continued to put the screws to the favorite through :21.76 and :44.10 splits. Inching...

"Zurdo" Estrada earned his nickname back when he was a kid in Mexico running up and down the soccer field. He would always kick the ball with his left foot so everyone called him Zurdo, the term word for left-handed. The nickname stuck and even still today, it's what everyone knows him as on the Santa Anita backside. Estrada began working as a hot walker at Bay Meadows Racetrack in San Mateo, California in 1989. He instantly fell in love with the sport and after a few short months, made...

Sometimes a prohibitive 3-5 favorite doesn't run his or her race, but sometimes one runs just as hoped and adds a cherry on top. Last-out GI Beholder Mile Stakes winner and Pamela C. Ziebarth homebred Sweet Azteca (f, 4, Sharp Azteca--So Sweetitiz, by Grand Slam) not only made it three in a row with a facile win in Saturday's GII Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos, but also set a new track record at Los Al for the distance, getting the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.33. At the Great...

Quite a few horses have lately nourished the illusion that we might, collectively, actually know what we're doing. Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), for instance, is threatening to make sense of the second-highest price paid for an American yearling in 2022; while Newgate (Into Mischief) is steadily working off a $850,000 debt of his own, while similarly bringing closer the real payday at stud. But last weekend we were given yet another reminder of the genetic powder-keg lit by a mating strategy that can only have prompted a supercilious smile in...

Facing a bevy of more experienced rivals, lightly raced SWEET AZTECA (f, 4, Sharp Azteca--So Sweetitiz, by Grand Slam) led every step of the way to capture the renamed GI B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile S. at Santa Anita Saturday. Last summer's GI Clement L. Hirsch S. winner and even-money favorite Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) was second, while 'TDN Rising Star' and Pumpkin Pie S. winner Green Up (Upstart), an East Coast shipper, was third. Final time for the mile was 1:36.40. A homebred for Pamela Cee Ziebarth, Sweet Azteca...

A week after a pair of California-breds battled to the wire in the GI La Brea S., the state-bred program was back in the spotlight again on Monday's holiday card at Santa Anita when Jaime Renella's Chismosa (Clubhouse Ride) capped a three-win day for her sire with a 1 1/4-length victory in the GIII Las Flores S. Sent off at 8-1, Chismosa settled just off the pace as favored Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca), making just her second career start, blitzed through a quarter in :21.96 and a half in :44.70...

7th-Churchill Downs, $115,095, Msw, 5-2, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:09.85, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. SWEET AZTECA (f, 3, Sharp Azteca--So Sweetitiz {MSW, $180,480}, by Grand Slam) trained forwardly ahead of this debut, both at the Trackside training center and over the local strip, and was bet down from 8-1 to be off at just over 9-2 on debut. Hustled along to dispute the early pace through a quarter-mile in :20.82, the homebred grey maintained a narrow advantage as they raced around the turn. Bracing for an outside challenge from fellow firster...