Umberto Rispoli perfectly guides Ag Bullet to the win. (Coady Media)
Somebody expected her to run “that good”
$1.5M Exacta Systems Ladies Turf Sprint: Baltas: “I didn’t expect her to run that good”
By Jennie Rees
FRANKLIN, Ky. —Trainer Richard Baltas said Ag Bullet was fast.
He was right.
Ag Bullet led all the way to take the $1.5 million Exacta Systems Ladies Turf Sprint by 5 1/2 lengths over favored Dontlookbackatall. If not quite a speeding bullet, she was fast enough to set the course record of 1:14.19 for 6 1/2 furlongs.
“I didn’t expect her to run that good,” Baltas said. “I knew that she was training lights out. Her last race was the same thing. The first day she galloped over the track, my rider said she just loves it, absolutely skipping over the track. I had a hard time putting the saddle on her. She’s just got that fire inside of her. She’s just got that fire inside of her. You just have to keep her quiet, and she was going to do the rest. It was a great day. It was pretty sweet to watch.”
The victory gave California-based jockey Umberto Rispoli a seven-figure victory on his 36th birthday.
“She’s absolutely fast,” Rispoli said. “I mean, she’s a kind of versatile filly. Today there was absolutely no chance at all to grab a step back and sit behind. She broke well, which sometimes she doesn’t. She’s very special. It worked out really well. We went to the lead. She was happy all the way, and I was happy to let her run.”
Ag Bullet threw down opening splits of 22.59 seconds for the first quarter mile and 45.20 for the half en route to a final time of 1:14.19, which clipped the old standard of 1:14.27 set by County Final last year. Ocean Club rallied from last to take third, two lengths behind Dontlookbackatall, followed in fourth by longshot Bling.
A gray daughter of Twirling Candy, the 4-year-old Ag Bullet, now is 6 for 6 on firm turf. Her only defeat came on a course rated “good” in the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile (G2), when she had the early lead and faded to ninth. She rebounded to win Del Mar’s Osunitas Stakes in her last start.
“This is special,” said Rispoli, who is 4 for 4 on the filly on grass. “I came all this way just for her. It couldn’t have been better than this. I am so proud. I want to say thank you to the owners, to Richard and all the team that made such a huge effort to bring the filly to the race in good condition.”
Ag Bullet paid $7.94 as the favorite in the field of 12 fillies and mares. She now is 6-0-0 in nine starts, her earnings ballooning to $$1,176,140 with the $878,940 payday for owners Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran.
Joel Rosario, who rode Dontlookbackatall, said his filly ran a big race “but that other filly just went wire to wire in a fast time.”
It was the second runner-up finish in one of the afternoon’s big-money stakes, with trainer Christophe Clement and owner West Point Thoroughbreds also finishing second in the $3.1 million DK Horse Nashville Derby with Carson’s Run.
Miguel Clement, assistant trainer to his dad, Christophe Clement, trainer of runner-up Dontlookbackatall:
“Listen, she ran a great race,” said Miguel Clement, assistant trainer to his dad. “We were sitting in an ideal spot. The winner opened up early. Joel thought maybe she’d come back to us, and we didn’t want to move too early. It might have been the winning move to be so early. She (Dontlookbackatall) finished strong all the way to the line, and was unlucky to get the job done on the day. But she ran a great race.”
When it was suggested that there were worse things than finishing second in a $3.1 million and a $1.5 million race, he said cheerfully, “We’re very greedy, the whole outfit. We like to win. So we’ll have to come back and try to do one place better.”
It was Baltas’ fourth career stakes victory at Kentucky Downs and his first since 2019.
“Kentucky Downs has been great to me,” Baltas said. “It’s not just about the money. It’s about the atmosphere. Horses relax here. They get to eat grass. I love it. Obviously when you win it’s even better. Still, just a great place for a horse.”
