Sweet Azteca Grabs Third Consecutive Great Lady M

Trainer Richard Baltas admitted that Sweet Azteca, making her first start in more than 10 months, wasn't 100% fit for her third assault on the Great Lady M Stakes (G2). It didn't matter. The gray or roan 6-year-old Kentucky-bred mare looked terrific July 4, both in the post parade and once the gate opened, and she easily captured her third consecutive running of the Los Alamitos Race Course stakes. Sweet Azteca has created a career out of quick starts followed by sheer speed that devastates her rivals. Longshot A. Z. Wildcat tried to go with Sweet Azteca early in the 6 1/2-furlong Great Lady M, and while that gave A. Z. Wildcat the lead briefly, it also resulted in a last-place finish when she simply couldn't keep up with the 7-10 favorite. With Armando Ayuso aboard for the first time, Sweet Azteca vied with A. Z. Wildcat, who set the opening fraction of :21.84 for a quarter-mile. The rest belonged to Sweet Azteca, however, who took command into the turn and proceeded to speed a half-mile in :43.81. In the long Los Alamitos stretch, a few rivals tried to close the gap and Ayuso encouraged Sweet Azteca a trifle. He then saw that she had the race won and wrapped up on her toward the end, resulting in a winning margin of "only" 1 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:15.67. Magnificat finished second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Nooni, coming off an even longer layoff of 1 1/2 years. "I got to work her twice in the mornings before the race," Ayuso said of Sweet Azteca. "She's a special filly. She does everything by herself. She doesn't do anything wrong. She is amazing." Baltas took over Sweet Azteca's training after her 4-year-old season and is now 3-for-3 with her, dating back to last year's Great Lady M. In the 2025 edition, Sweet Azteca broke the Los Alamitos track record, winning in 1:14.32, a mark that still stands. "I know that she was a little short, but she's such a good horse," Baltas said. "She's kind; she's just a tremendous horse." Sweet Azteca won her eighth race in 10 lifetime starts. In addition to the three Great Lady M races, making her undefeated at Los Alamitos, she won the 2024 Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park and back-to-back runnings of the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3) at Del Mar. The 2026 Rancho Bernardo, slated for Aug. 16, would be a likely next start for her, with the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) as the ultimate goal. A foot issue caused Sweet Azteca to be scratched from the 2025 Breeders' Cup. Baltas recommended to owner/breeder Pam Ziebarth that they give her 120 days off, and he sent her to Katie Fisher's Kingfisher Farms in California's Santa Ynez Valley. Sweet Azteca had five works at Santa Anita going into the Great Lady M. Ziebarth and her late mother, Cecilia Straub Rubens, have shepherded Sweet Azteca's family for several generations. The third dam, Tizsweet, is a full sister to 2000 Horse of the Year Tiznow, the only two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Straub Rubens bred Tizsweet, and Ziebarth bred the second dam Sweetitiz in partnership with Michael Cooper. Ziebarth is the sole breeder of So Sweetitiz, the dam of Sweet Azteca. "We love the mom—from that year she was the pick of the litter," Ziebarth said. "She's done nothing but throw really, really nice foals." Sweet Azteca was So Sweetitiz's first starter, and Baltas also has Sweet Gal of Mine, a 5-year-old daughter of Dialed In who, most recently, finished second in a June 14 allowance race at Santa Anita. Ziebarth said a 2-year-old full sister to Sweet Azteca, as yet unnamed, is with Baltas as well but would likely not start until the fall. Sharp Azteca, the sire of Sweet Azteca, stands for in Japan at Shizunai Stallion Station, operated by the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders Association, for a listed 2026 stud fee of 1.5 million yen. Sharp Azteca won the 2017 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) and initially entered stud at Three Chimneys Farm near Versailles, Ky.