Ag Bullet, bought back by owners Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale when she fell short of her reserve when bidding halted at $2.9 million, may collect instead on the racetrack Nov. 30 at Del Mar.
An elite turf sprinter who toppled males in the June 8 Jaipur Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course and who placed in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Del Mar over the course she revisits Sunday, she will attempt to carry her turf speed over a mile distance in the Matriarch Stakes (G1T). She battles Segesta—trained by Chad Brown, a six-time Matriarch winner—and eight others in the $300,000 race.
Though shorter-distance turf races have been Ag Bullet's specialty, a mile is not entirely outside her reach. Last year in the Matriarch, she set the pace before fading to third, beaten a length by Sacred Wish. Ag Bullet is 2-0-1 from five attempts at the distance on turf with her wins coming in the 2023 Lady of Shamrock Stakes and in the restricted Osunitas Stakes in 2024 at Del Mar. Graded company at the trip has been a tougher scene, yielding the Matriarch third, plus a ninth in the 2024 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (G2T) at Churchill Downs and a fourth in the 2024 First Lady Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland.
A 5-year-old gray and/or roan daughter of Twirling Candy , Ag Bullet must deal with another speedster in the Matriarch with the sprinter In Our Time. The latter scorched through eye-popping fractions of :20.65 and :43.65 in the 5 1/2-furlong Franklin Stakes (G2T) Oct. 12 at Keeneland before weakening to second behind Time to Dazzle.
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, aboard Ag Bullet in the Jaipur and for a 2 1/2-length defeat in the 5-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, returns in the irons aboard Ag Bullet.
If Ag Bullet and In Our Time lock horns early or hot fractions ensue, the shape of the race tilts toward Juddmonte's Segesta, a polished stalker who has fared best sitting just off the pace. Twice grade 1-placed, including in her most recent start when second in the Oct. 4 First Lady Stakes, the 4-year-old dark bay or brown daughter of Ghostzapper seeks her first top-level stakes victory in the Matriarch.
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Her $1,010,275 bankroll, earned with a 3-4-0 record in 10 starts, is the second-highest in the field, trailing only the $2,941,228 made by Ag Bullet. The latter is 8-1-2 in 16 races.
Flavien Prat rides for Brown, whose six Matriarch wins have come over the past eight runnings.
Other Matriarch threats are graded-winning turf routers Medoro, Breath Away, Ozara, and Heredia.
Del Mar, Sunday, November 30, 2025, Race 7Entries: Matriarch S. (G1T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Medoro (KY) Umberto Rispoli 123 Peter Eurton 6/1 2 2Breath Away (GB) Kazushi Kimura 123 Miguel Clement 8/1 3 3Antifona (FR) Armando Ayuso 123 Vladimir Cerin 20/1 4 4Vibez (KY) Hector Isaac Berrios 123 Peter Eurton 12/1 5 5Spicybug (KY) Ricardo Gonzalez 123 Michael W. McCarthy 15/1 6 6Ozara (IRE) Antonio Fresu 123 Miguel Clement 8/1 7 7Heredia (GB) Juan J. Hernandez 123 H. Graham Motion 8/1 8 8Ag Bullet (KY) John R. Velazquez 123 Richard Baltas 3/1 9 9Segesta (KY) Flavien Prat 123 Chad C. Brown 7/2 10 10In Our Time (KY) Javier Castellano 123 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 8/1
