Ag Bullet Holds Off The Wild Grazer in Lady of Shamrock
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Ag Bullet and jockey Frankie Dettori win the Lady of Shamrock Stakes at Santa Anita Park
Frankie Dettori wasn't supposed to be in the irons for Ag Bullet in the $100,000 Lady of Shamrock Stakes Feb. 12 at Santa Anita Park.
Following jockey Joe Bravo's tragic fall a day earlier in which Decorated My Life went down during the Sweet Life Stakes and had to be euthanized, Dettori stepped in to guide Ag Bullet to victory in the one-mile turf race.
"I spoke to him, but he's OK. Get well soon, Joe," Dettori told Santa Anita's in-house reporter.
Ag Bullet brushed the gate but still got out to a good start, leading for the opening paces before settling in behind Broadway Girls and stalking her through the early going.
Broadway Girls maintained a clear lead through the first half-mile, but Ag Bullet made her move in the far turn, going to the outside of the leader as they hit the stretch with a burst. That rush forward seemingly put Dettori and Ag Bullet comfortably in the front for good.
However, at the sixteenth pole, The Wild Grazer made one last-ditch effort to take the crown only to find Ag Bullet had just enough left to win by a neck.
"First time at a mile," Dettori said of Ag Bullet, whose previous longest run was six and a half furlongs. "She kind of relaxed for me and I thought, 'Let's go.' She opened up by two (lengths) and the petrol just ran out at the end. Luckily for us the winning post was there in time."
The race featured fractional times of :22.69, :47.58, and 1:11.93. Ag Bullet stopped the clock in 1:35.82.
Princess Bettina closed to finish third, ahead of Tea N Conversation and Nyvan . Broadway Girls faded to sixth and Quickly Park It finished seventh to round out the field.
Ag Bullet was bred by H & E Ranch, is owned by Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran, and is trained by George Papaprodromou. The daughter of Twirling Candy was bought by Nguyen and Tran at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $220,000 out of the Eaton Sales consignment. The sire stands at Lane's End for $60,000.
Ag Bullet was previously purchased at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $30,000 by JC Bloodstock out of Eaton Sales' consignment.
The gray or roan filly is out of the Forestry mare Noble Grey. Noble Grey has seven starters—all winners—from nine foals. The most successful of those is Sanity by City Zip, who has $349,604 in career earnings.
Ag Bullet, who broke her maiden last time out, is 2-0-0 from three starts with $101,600 in career earnings. She delivered $6.40 on a $2 win bet.