Sweet Azteca Tops Kopion in Great Lady M Showdown

Sweet Azteca overcame a nine-month layoff to conquer sprint division queen Kopion with an eye-popping victory in the $200,500 Great Lady M Stakes (G2) July 5 at Los Alamitos Race Course. A year after cruising to a track mark in last year's Great Lady M, Sweet Azteca showed she was back better than ever as a 5-year-old for new trainer Richard Baltas, breaking her own Los Al record by one-hundredth of a second. Much like the 2024 rendition, Sweet Azteca broke like a shot and took up her customary front-running position under jockey Juan Hernandez. A gray missile speeding around the Los Al oval, the Sharp Azteca mare slammed down a demanding first quarter in :21.95 and half-mile in :43.87. Kopion, fresh off her emphatic score in the Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) on Kentucky Derby (G1) day at Churchill Downs, angled out and chased gamely but was thrown out to the center of the track when Sweet Azteca swung several paths wide turning for home. Kazushi Kimura geared the Richard Mandella trainee to the inside of Sweet Azteca to no avail, as the winner scampered to the wire 1 1/2 lengths clear. After roaring through six furlongs in a dizzying 1:07.79, Sweet Azteca hit the wire with speed in reserve in a final time of 1:14.32. "I was actually pretty happy when I saw the early fractions," Baltas said of Sweet Azteca. "(Jockey) Juan (Hernandez) had her relaxed and she was where she wanted to be. We got the money and it's a big relief. When you get a horse from another trainer and the horse has done so well and everybody has expectations, there's pressure on you. I was about 95% confident. There's little things she's done, but we figured it out. She taught us and we listened to her." The second choice at 7-2 behind 1-5 Kopion, Sweet Azteca returned the highest payout of her career since breaking her maiden with $9 for a $2 win bet. "(Sweet Azteca) is a super filly and very professional," Hernandez said. "I think she won the race right out of the gate. (Trainer) Richie (Baltas) did a great job with her and she loves this track.'' Runner-up Kopion tasted defeat for the first time since finishing fourth in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) in April 2024. Chismosa, last of the six early, closed to get up for third at odds of 49-1. Previously trained by Michael McCarthy, Sweet Azteca captured the fourth graded stakes win of her career for owner/breeder Pamela Ziebarth. She is one of two winners produced by Ziebarth's stakes-winning Grand Slam mare So Sweetitiz. Sweet Azteca remains the sole grade 1 winner sired by Sharp Azteca, who had stood at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky before being moved to Japan's Shizunai Stallion Station for the 2024 breeding season.