Ag Bullet

GI Jaipur Stakes winner Reef Runner (The Big Beast) will get some space between races and will most likely target the GII Troy Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 9 as his next start. The son of The Big Beast began his 2026 with an electric victory in the G2 1351 Turf Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in mid-February, and checked in fourth a month later at Meydan in the G1 Al Quoz Turf Sprint. Sent home after those jumps, he denied defending champion Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) in his first start...

All six fillies and mares below ran during Saratoga's all-star Belmont Stakes Festival. 6. AG BULLET, SAR, June 6, Jaipur Stakes (Gr. I), 5 1/2 furlongs (turf) (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-99 (2nd) (m, 6, by Twirling Candy--Noble Grey, by Forestry) O-Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran. B-H & E Ranch (Ky). T-Richard Baltas. J-John Velazquez. The defending Jaipur champ became a Gr. I winner in this race last year and again Baltas chose to face males for $500,000 rather than females for $250,000 in Thursday's Intercontinental. That decision looks sound in...

It's been nearly six months since Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's homebred Reef Runner (g, 5, The Big Beast--Paradise Bay, by Blame) has competed on these shores (a win in the Janus Stakes at Gulfstream in December), but he hasn't been idle. He brought a G2 1351 Turf Sprint win home from Saudi Arabia and barely missed the top three in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai. On Saturday at Saratoga, he showed international competition made him razor sharp and ready for the GI Jaipur Stakes on Belmont Stakes Day....

Saturday's Belmont Stakes is the last of nine top-level events on the weekend and the final of the six highly anticipated Grade I contests scheduled for a bumper card at Saratoga, short, medium and long on both the turf and the main track. A top-quality field of seven is set to face the starter in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap, for which 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Nysos (Nyquist) is the 9-5 morning-line favorite and 126-pound topweight in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders'...

No fewer than 116 horses recorded workouts over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Saturday morning, including the heaviest hitters from the barn of trainer Bill Mott. Reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) returned to the tab for the first time since his runner-up effort to White Abarrio (Race Day) when making his seasonal debut in the GII Oaklawn Handicap on Apr. 18. The Godolphin homebred was partnered in his work by his regular exercise rider Jimmy Quispe and went an easy half-mile in :50.05 (67/88). "He went...

Marc Wampler has been involved with racing since 1993 and currently is the racing manager and bloodstock agent for Pocket Aces Racing as well as offering similar services to private clientele. When breeding, the first thing Wampler asks his clients is whether they are breeding a racehorse or a sales horse. He says he believes it's an important initial step in the process as the pool of potential stallions to use varies depending on the answer. "If breeding to race, the stud book offers many options and an opportunity to...

Continuing the powerful run during Del Mar's closing weekend of racing, trainer Chad Brown and Juddmonte once again held the winning card in the day's feature, taking Sunday's GI Matriarch Stakes with Segesta (Ghostzapper), a half-sister to Saturday's GI Hollywood Derby winner, Salamis (Speightstown). In Our Time (Not This Time) and Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) went to the front early as 8-5 choice Segesta was allowed to settle in fourth through :23.65 and :48.06 initial splits. With the 25-1 still cruising along up front through a half in :48.06, the...

The FanDuel Racing Turf Festival concludes Sunday afternoon with a trio of graded events at Del Mar, topped by an intriguing renewal of the GI Matriarch Stakes over a mile. Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) made the majority of the running in this event 12 months ago, yielding grudgingly to finish a length behind Sacred Wish (Not This Time) in third. That effort came on the back of a near-miss third in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and the grey is arguably in the same sort of form, having run...

Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) and Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca), a pair of Grade I winning gray mares trained by Richard Baltas, will continue their racing careers, according to a report from the Daily Racing Form. Currently a 5-year-old, Ag Bullet notched her first top-level score this past summer when she took on the boys in the GI Jaipur Stakes at Saratoga. After hitting the board in the GI Prevagen Breeders's Cup Sprint at Del Mar in 2024, the Calvin Nguyen & Joey Tran color bearer finished as the runner-up to...

"Tum-ta-tum-tum-TUMS!!" Ordering up some hot sauce with the ring of the bell, Shisospicy (Mitole--Mischief Galore, by Into Mischief) dished out a torrid serving of pace and winged her way to World Championship glory as she downed the GI Prevagen Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint to beat the boys and give them a dose of heartburn. Maybe an appearance by the filly on 'Hot Ones' is in the offing? Shisospicy broke her maiden on first-asking at trainer Jose D'Angelo's Gulfstream base with a 16 1/4-length score last October, which made her a...

DEL MAR, CA - A swing through the course of American Thoroughbred history yields the widely-accepted conclusion that dirt plays the king in these parts, while turf is the patient understudy offstage left--turns are configured in that direction over here. It was not all that long ago that droves of U.S. tracks debated whether putting in a bladed surface and acquiring something called a going stick made any sense. Progressive places like Del Mar's Thoroughbred Club damned the salt in the marine layer and forged ahead with its first course...

Calvin Nguyen always figured that he and his brother Joey Tran had found their once-in-a-lifetime horse right out of the gate. In 1999, they claimed their very first runner for $32,000. Freedom Crest turned that gamble into a 13-race in-the-money streak, climbing his way into graded company and making it to the 2001 Breeders' Cup Classic. But two decades later, a filly who was never supposed to run in their silks has proven that she is worth her weight in silver—literally. The grey Twirling Candy filly named Ag Bullet has...