The Azeri (Grade 2)- $400.000 Purse
OP- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
March 8, 2025

A strong field of nine, featuring six horses that have earned over $1,000.000 in their careers, will be taking part in the 20th running of the Azeri at OP. This is a race that debuted as a Grade 3 in 2005, and was upgraded in 2014, and that is where the classification has been ever since. The purse has seen gradual increases over time, with the current $400.000, a high for the race, being reached last year. In that race, Mb Stables picked up his second Azeri victory, coming with Present Tense. It was part of a strong year for the mare, who ended up running in the middle of the pack in the BC Distaff and will look to go back-to-back this year as part of a great duo that the trainer has running here. Let’s meet them and the rest of the field hoping to bring the trophy home to their barns, instead:

1- Racing Tipster (Williams9, ridden by T W Bacon)- Not quite one of our $1,000.000 earners, but seems to be heading in that direction at this point in time. She’s made ten starts and qualified for the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint last year with a win in the PID Masters Stakes (Grade 2) and runner up in the Test (Grade 1) being the driving factors there. Ran second in the BC but would be sold by Fractious in the auction a month later for $355.090. Debuted well for Williams9 in the Grade 1 La Brea, placing third, but was poor in the Inside Information afterward. She had never run a bad race before that, so that makes it easy to forgive and forget.

2- Wrong Farm (Winning Link Stables, ridden by R E Eramia)- Still looking to return to the winner’s circle after she fell short in the Bayakoa (Grade 3) here last month, placing third. It is those kinds of competitive finishes that continue to show that Wrong Farm could break through at any moment, but until she breaks this 1-for-15 funk she is in, with no wins since August 2023, where she broke her maiden, it’ll be the “monkey on the back” for her that she needs to shake off.

3- Wavy Girl (Saratoga Stud, ridden by M Franco)- I feel like I have been seeing this horse a lot lately, and maybe there is a very good reason for that. This will be her third start in the last six weeks, and I probably had those two other races. Last time out, she did make an impression as she flew by the competition in the stretch to win the Grade 3 Royal Delta. Now, one of my angles in picks over the years is that I am concerned over horses that make that third (not the second) start in quick succession. But just enough time may have gone by, too. We’ll see.

4- Untidy (Mb Stables, ridden by J L Ortiz)- Untidy has had an outstanding career, winning ten times over 23 starts and is presently riding a two-race winning streak. After she was only able to muster an eighth place run in the BC Distaff, Untidy remained in California to take part in the Grade 3 La Canada Stakes and came out on top. After that, she would head here for the Bayakoa, and got the win there as well. There’s not much that is different about this race and the Bayakoa, and therefore we should not expect any type of drop off here. However, she didn’t have to take on her powerful stablemate in that race.

5- Beach Towel (Winning Link Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- Winning Link also brings two here to the Azeri, and Beach Towel has had a little more success over her career. But she too, is starting to get a losing streak going, with her last win being back in March at the GP Oaks, a victory that got her into the KYO. However, since then, she has become very inconsistent, with occasional flashes of her GP Oaks self, such as in the Cotillion last fall, but that’s the only race out of her last five where she has been better than sixth. I would actually pick Wrong Farm to win this before picking her.

6- Present Tense (Mb Stables, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- Last year, Matamata was looking to defend her Azeri title, but would place second in a tight photo with Present Tense. Now, it is Present Tense looking to repeat as the race’s winner, something that has never happened in this race. After that victory, Present Tense remained hot, winning the Doubledogdare Stakes and regularly hitting the board afterward. That would lead her into the BC Distaff, where she was simply unable to get going. Her lone start after that came in an open allowance against three others at HOU and it was certainly a winnable race. Only ran second that day, and by almost two full lengths to Moment To Reflect, who’s had her own level of success, but not at the level of Present Tense. Maybe she just needed to run again after three months, and with that done, can move forward this year.

7- Decimas Queen (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by A Jimenez)- Last Spring, Decimas Queen ran second in the KYO, and later in the summer, she would get the win in the Grade 1 Hirsch at DMR, which earned her the right to run in the BC Distaff. All of our runners in this race that also ran in that BC event seem to have finished in the middle of the field that day, except of course, for the one we’re getting to next. I’m actually having a hard time getting a feel on her heading into race. Her last three do not really excite, but the sprint should be thrown out when looking at this, and the other two were decently competitive against strong fields so may be a lot better than they seem.

8- Starting Over (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Just when it may have been looking like Mb Stables could be unstoppable in this race, TwinTowersRacing says not so fast. A win for Starting Over here would put her over the $4,000.000 mark for her career, and I like how she seems to step up her game when in the races are bigger and bigger. She’s been in the BC Distaff twice, running third in 2023, and second last year, and was within a length of victory in each of them. So, with a little more luck at the wire, she could very well be boasting that she is a two-time BC Distaff winner. We last saw her five weeks ago in the HOU Ladies Classic (Grade 3), and that is a race that she is now a two-time winner of. The Personal Ensign is another race she has won twice. Was third here last year, and I look for her to improve on that by two here.

9- Nazca Lines (Delta Farms, ridden by F Pennington)- Made a big impression around this time last year, with a three-race winning streak including a win here in the Grade 3 Fantasy. That helped send her to the KYO, where she made her way through traffic to be fifth. Remained competitive, though not as productive, for a while until she won the Grade 2 River Run at KEE. After running in the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint, she would win the Grade 1 La Brea. Seems like more distance would help, and I would not entirely rule her out.

Prediction: 8-4-6-1

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES