Sweet Azteca continues to break records and marches directly toward the Breeders' Cup

She captured the Rancho Bernardo Stakes (G3) at Del Mar for the third consecutive year, virtually hand-ridden. She now boasts 9 victories in 11 starts and targets the Filly & Mare Sprint

DEL MAR, California—Challenging Sweet Azteca on equal terms seems to have turned into an nearly impossible mission. Several have tried over recent seasons, and on Sunday it was Thermal's (Nyquist) turn. The result was once again the same: the towering roan dispatched her rival without mercy to capture the Rancho Bernardo Stakes (G3) over 1300 meters on the Del Mar dirt for the third consecutive season.

The race promised an enticing match-up between Sweet Azteca, the heavy favorite under Juan Hernández, and Thermal, the second choice in the betting ridden by Joel Rosario. For a brief moment, it delivered. After that, quite simply, there was only one mare on the track.

The official margin was 4 3/4 lengths, though the impression was that it could have been far greater had Hernándezchosen to press her. The clock stopped at 1m16s51/100, with Antifona taking third ahead of Fire Ban(Preservationist), after both had broken through their gate stalls prior to the start.

"I knew the other mare could make things difficult," Hernández explained regarding Thermal. "But Richard told me ours was doing fantastic and to ride her with confidence."

Richard is Baltas, the trainer privileged to have two extraordinary sprinters in his barn, albeit with vastly different personalities. One is Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy), a turf specialist with a far more fiery disposition. The other is Sweet Azteca, calm, manageable, and always willing to cooperate.

"She listens to her rider the entire time," said Hernández, now victorious in four of his five rides aboard her. "She took a breather on the backstretch, and I knew she was traveling really well."

Thermal attempted to take the fight to her early, setting demanding fractions of 22s49/100 for the first 400 meters and 44s94/100 for the 800, while Sweet Azteca stalked her, utilizing her massive stride without expending any unnecessary energy.

Around the final 600 meters, Hernández decided the time had come.

"I asked her to accelerate. She went right past the other mare and reached the wire with complete ease," summarized the jockey.

That was precisely what transpired. Sweet Azteca left Thermal behind almost effortlessly, swiftly turning what had begun as a duel into a total procession.

Her superiority was so absolute that, after the wire, Rosario pulled alongside Hernández and remarked, "She's a very good mare." The reply was as brief as it was definitive: "Yeah, I know."

At 6 years old, Sweet Azteca continues to maintain an extraordinary level despite her recent seasons being carefully managed. Following a stellar 4-year-old campaign under Michael McCarthy, she transferred to Baltas, who has sent her out just four times over the last 13 months.

A foot injury disrupted plans last term, forcing her scratch from the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). Now, however, there is genuine optimism about bringing her at peak fitness to this year's edition on October 31 at Keeneland.

Sweet Azteca's third straight victory in the Rancho Bernardo also carries historical weight. The only other mare to accomplish the hat-trick was Track Gal (Track Barron), winner in 1995, 1996, and 1997—who, fittingly enough, was trained by John Sadler, the current conditioner of Thermal.

"She was a tremendous mare, just like Sweet Azteca," Sadler acknowledged.

Owner and breeder Pamela Ziebarth collected $60,000 for the victory from the $100,000 purse, along with a $15,000 credit toward Breeders’ Cup entry fees via the Dirt Dozen Bonus Series.

Sweet Azteca thus elevated her remarkable record to 9 wins from just 11 starts, with earnings reaching $847,200.

A daughter of Sharp Azteca, she is the second foal out of stakes winner So Sweetitiz (Grand Slam) and hails from a illustrious maternal family. Tizsweet (Cee's Tizzy), second dam of So Sweetitiz, is a full sister to none other than Tiznow, Horse of the Year in 2000 and the only back-to-back winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) with consecutive victories in 2000 and 2001.

Pedigree, speed, and extraordinary consistency. Sweet Azteca proved once again at Del Mar that when she is sound and at her best, finding a rival capable of looking her in the eye all the way to the wire is a monumental task.

Now Keeneland awaits—and with it, unfinished business at the Breeders’ Cup that, barring any setbacks, she will finally have the chance to settle this October.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgORGXk2ETw