Chismosa, Sweet Azteca to Meet Again in Great Lady M

Rarely does the first horse someone claims produce a graded stakes winner, but that's just what happened to Jaime Renella. His homebred 4-year-old Chismosa , a product of that first claim, You Can Dream , goes into the July 6 Great Lady M Stakes (G2) at Los Alamitos Race Course as a grade 3 stakes winner who also has three other added-money victories. She will face a buzz saw in the form of grade 1 winner Sweet Azteca , but Chismosa is one of only two who have ever finished ahead of Sweet Azteca.

Sweet Azteca, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Sharp Azteca  trained by Michael McCarthy, will likely be a strong favorite in the 6 1/2-furlong Great Lady M, which drew a field of 10. She is coming off an excellent win in the March 9 Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park, when she defeated Adare Manor , later winner of the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park and Santa Margarita Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita.

Following her debut win last fall at Churchill Downs, Sweet Azteca ran third to Chismosa and Hot Peppers  in the Jan. 1 Las Flores Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita. Since then, she has been sensational, taking a Feb. 2 allowance/optional claimer by 12 lengths and triumphing over Adare Manor by three-quarters of a length.

Juan Hernandez pilots Sweet Azteca for the first time, and they will break from post 4.

Chismosa, trained by Rafael DeLeon, is one of several winners Renella has bred from You Can Dream, a $20,000 claim in 2010. A California-bred daughter of Clubhouse Ride , Chismosa has earned more than $500,000, the most of the Great Lady M field. She is coming off a win in the June 2 Desert Stormer Stakes at Santa Anita. In 2023, Chismosa finished second in the Great Lady M, losing by just a neck to Eda . Tiago Pereira is set to ride from post 3.

McCarthy also trains Three Witches , a multiple graded stakes winner to be ridden by Abel Cedillo from post 2. A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Into Mischief  , Three Witches won the Feb. 3 Santa Monica Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita. Her first graded win came in the 2023 Princess Rooney Invitational Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

Peter Miller trains Daddysruby , a 4-year-old Cal-bred daughter of Frac Daddy  who won the Dec. 26 La Brea Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. To be ridden for the first time by Reylu Gutierrez and drawn into post 9, Daddysruby has a record of five wins, one second, one third, and one fourth in eight starts. Since the La Brea, she finished third in the Feb. 18 Spring Fever Stakes at Santa Anita and second in the March 30 Matron Stakes at Oaklawn.