Del Mar: Sweet Azteca brings class edge to Rancho Bernardo

Some very talented fillies and mares have contested the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap in the past. The list includes Great Lady M, Desert Stormer, Track Gal who won it three years in a row, Kalookan Queen, Reneesgotzip, Judy the Beauty, Edgeway and last year’s winner Eda.

This year Sweet Azteca is looking to add her name to the list.

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The heavy 2-5 favorite on the morning line is leaving little to ponder for handicappers. She comes into Sunday’s race off of an impressive win in the Great Lady M (G2) at Los Alamitos, winning by five lengths and setting a track record in the process. It followed her victory over Adare Manor in the Beholder Mile (G1) in March and before that a 12-length win in an entry-level allowance at Santa Anita in February. Her only career loss out of five starts came in the Las Flores (G3) at the beginning of the year in her first race after an eight-month layoff.

“We’re looking to get her a race over the track for the Breeders’ Cup,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “She worked 59-and-three (fifths going five furlongs) the other day. I thought it was very good. More or less of what we’ve been seeing all along. Seems like she’s maintaining her form.”

Sweet Azteca is owned and was bred by Pamela Ziebarth, who has placed horses with McCarthy in the past. The 4-year-old daughter of Sharp Azteca got her start in Kentucky where she won at first asking. After a short layoff they decided to bring her out west.

“She gave us glimpses last year that she had some ability,” McCarthy said. “You never know if they’re going to be this good, but she was definitely showing us some signs early on.”

Six rivals will line up against Sweet Azteca, including the only horse to have ever beaten her. Chismosa won the Las Flores in January.

“She’s looking super right now,” Chismosa’s trainer Rafael DeLeón said. “Six to 6 1/2 furlongs on the dirt is the best for her. It’s going to be a very fast race.”

Which may bode well for Chismosa, who is a closer. She was beaten by 15 1/2 lengths by Sweet Azteca last out in the Great Lady M but with an excuse.

“I was angry with Tiago (Pereira) because he rode my horse wrong,” DeLeón said. “He pushed the filly right away, and she got tired. She races and works the same way. If you let another horse go, she’ll come and get it. You look at the last race at Santa Anita, and she came from dead behind.”

Chismosa got up in the final strides to win the $100,000 Desert Stormer that day. She’s also won at Del Mar, taking the Generous Portion as a 2-year-old. The Cal-bred daughter of Clubhouse Ride has compiled $502,250 in earnings, the most in the field. 

Anywho has shown flashes of brilliance, including an eight-length victory in an entry-level allowance race at Churchill Downs to start her 4-year-old campaign.

“She’s doing good,” trainer John Sadler said. “She won a nice race this year and then was fourth in a stake. Last time at Los Al she didn’t run good. I think she didn’t like Los Alamitos and the inside draw, but she’s trained well here and drawn outside, which is her favorite draw. Obviously, we’re up against a 2-5 shot, but if I could be second or third, I’d be thrilled.”

Anywho is a daughter of Bolt d’Oro.

“I know she’s a quality filly,“ Sadler said. “Her performance has been a little up and down, but she’s in good shape for Sunday.”

Vitalera is a Chile-bred who has run mostly in allowance company since coming up from South America last year. Trainer Marcelo Polanco feels this is a good spot to try her in a stakes.

“It’s not a very tough race except for Sweet Azteca,” Polanco said. “Vitalera is improving day by day. She’s always in the money and can handle dirt or grass, so this is the time to take a chance.”

The 53rd running of the Rancho Bernardo will go off as the eighth of nine races Sunday. It is scheduled to start at 8:35 p.m. EDT.