Of the other nine fillies and mares in Saturday’s Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos, the biggest threat to Sweet Azteca may be the mare that accompanies her on the 30-mile van ride from Santa Anita. Sweet Azteca, trained by Michael McCarthy for owner and breeder Pamela Ziebarth, will be favored in the $200,000 Great Lady M. Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on the strength of a win in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita on March 9 in her last start. McCarthy also runs Three Witches, who won the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita in February, but was seventh in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs on May 4 in her only subsequent start. McCarthy said Three Witches had a rough time that afternoon, on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “Nothing about that day worked out well for her. She hated the track and got really warm,” McCarthy said. “There was a lot of commotion that day.” Those two give McCarthy a menacing team in the Great Lady M. Stakes, the richest race of the three-week Los Alamitos summer meeting that ends on Sunday. Del Mar begins its summer meeting on July 20. Sweet Azteca, who will be ridden for the first time by Juan Hernandez, is quick enough to be part of the pace. Three Witches can race near the front, but is effective as a stalker. Sweet Azteca was under consideration for the Derby City Distaff until she sustained a cut to her knee in April. She had a five-week gap between workouts, and has had a steady pattern of activity since mid-May. Last Saturday at Santa Anita, Sweet Azteca worked five furlongs in a sharp 58.20 seconds. “She’s a classy filly and seems amenable to what the riders ask of her on race day,” McCarthy said. “We’ll bounce out of there and be forwardly placed. We’ll learn a lot about her.” The Great Lady M. has a much deeper field than the McCarthy-trained runners. There are five other stakes winners in the field of 10 – Chismosa, Daddysruby, Olivia Twist, Super Shine, and Yuki – as well as the stakes-placed Getthemoney. Anywho and Irish Wahine also start. Daddysruby won the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs at Santa Anita last December, but is winless in two starts this year. The Great Lady M. Stakes will be Daddysruby’s first start since a second by three-quarters of a length in the Matron Stakes at six furlongs at Oaklawn Park on March 30. Daddysruby, trained by Peter Miller, took her typical position at the front of the field in the Matron and was caught in the final strides. She is expected to be part of a fast pace in the Great Lady M. Anywho won her 2024 debut in an allowance race at six furlongs by eight lengths at Churchill Downs on May 17 but was only fourth of six in the Desert Stormer Stakes at six furlongs behind Chismosa at Santa Anita on June 2. “She got kind of an unfortunate trip,” trainer John Sadler said. “I think it will be a better-than-looked race when it shakes out. She kind of broke a little off. She kind of rushed up. She was never comfortable. I think she’s got a lot of quality.” Anywho is likely to be near the front for jockey Edwin Maldonado, who has the mount for the first time. “She’s a forwardly placed horse,” Sadler said. A potential speed duel will aid the durable Chismosa, who has her eighth start of 2024 on Saturday. Second in the 2023 Great Lady M. at 19-1, Chismosa won her second sprint stakes of 2024 in the Desert Stormer, closing from fifth in a field of six to lead in the final furlong. The Great Lady M. is the first start in a stakes sprint for Super Shine, a three-time Group 2 winner at longer distances in Argentina in 2022 and last year. In two starts in the United States this year, Super Shine was a game second by a neck in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on April 21, but last of four in the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles there on May 26. Super Shine was near the front in those two-turn races, and can post a danger as a stalker on Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.