Ag Bullet Defeats Males in Rescheduled Jaipur Stakes

There may not be a Breeders' Cup turf sprint for fillies and mares, but that hasn't been a problem for Ag Bullet. Thanks to a "Win and You're In" bonus for beating the boys in the $500,000 Jaipur Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course, the 5-year-old mare will be heading back to the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) for the second straight year. Though the 5 1/2-furlong Jaipur was delayed a day when turf racing was scrapped on the June 7 Belmont Stakes (G1) day card due to heavy rain, a 24-hour wait did not faze the daughter of Twirling Candy who was third in last year's Turf Sprint, just a neck and nose behind. With jockey John Velazquez subbing for Flavien Prat who honored a commitment to ride Final Gambit in the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs, Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran's Ag Bullet finally secured an elusive grade 1 win as she took charge in the stretch and rolled to a two-length win over My Boy Prince June 8 at the Spa. "There's only so many grade 1's. She was third in the Breeders' Cup against the boys. She ran very good that day. She had a little snag yesterday but that was fine," trainer Richard Baltas said. "I'm over the moon. It's been an up and down thing with this filly. She was overachieving last year. We tried to get her a grade 1. Now she has a grade 1 win and she's a very valuable filly. We're going to take care of her and maybe sell her in November." After her near-miss in the Turf Sprint back in November, Ag Bullet's only other start this year was a seventh in the Unbridled Sidney (G3T) at Churchill Downs when she was in tight and steadied in the 5 1/2 furlong stakes. Off that bad trip, waiting a day for the Jaipur was well-worth it for the connections. "I was more than happy," Baltas said about the delay. "I thought (the New York Racing Association) did the right thing." Ag Bullet was forwardly placed throughout in the Jaipur, rating comfortably in third, a little more than a length behind, as 18-1 shot Coppola carved out fractions of :22.52 and :45.80 on the "good" turf. As the field of 10 turned into the stretch, Velazquez asked Ag Bullet for a burst of speed and she responded. She motored to a half-length lead at the eighth pole and was unchallenged from there. Final time was 1:03.62 as Ag Bullet paid $7.70 as the 5-2 second choice. Gary Barber's My Boy Prince, who was second early, stayed on nicely along the rail to hang on for second. The son of Cairo Prince, trained by Mark Casse, finished a head in front of Sonata Stable's Alogon, a California Chrome gelding trained by Edward Allard. Baltas said he would likely run the millionaire mare next in the Ladies Turf Sprint (G2T) at Kentucky Downs, a race she won by 5 1/4 lengths last year. It could be her only other start before the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Bred by H & E Ranch out of the Forestry mare Noble Grey, the 5-year-old posted her seventh win in 14 starts and pushed her earnings to $1,616,328. She was bought for $220,000 from the Eaton Sales consignment at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Favored Think Big was ninth early and rallied wide to finish seventh.