Trainer Kenny McPeek has seen a number of the mares he trains become fan favourites, particularly multiple Grade 1 winners. Swiss skydiver who defeated the boys in the 2020 Preakness Stakes (G1) after winning the Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Track.
Four years later, it’s impressive Anna Thorpedo who captured the hearts of horse racing fans and three straight Grade 1 wins after a resounding victory in the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), a nine-furlong race for second-year mares, at Spa on July 20.
Thorpedo Anna is the undisputed leader of her weight class after posting an impressive score in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) in May at Churchill Downs and Acorn (G1) in June in the Spa Belmont Stakes on the way to the CCA Oaks.
Thorpedo Anna arrived at Saratoga on May 23 and has been training regularly on the Oklahoma training track since. After scoring Acorn, McPeek posted on X, “She will stay at Saratoga and train on the Oklahoma side before 6am every day. The Whitney Stand is a great place to watch her. We will be supporting her to that Stand every day she trains. I will give her a saddle towel with her name on it. Danny Ramsey will be galloping her every day.”
Spa racing fans continue to follow the talented mare and will have nearly three months of up close and personal time with Thorpedo Anna by the time she starts her next race in what could be her first time racing against other stallions in the $1.25 million Travers (G1) on August 24.
“It’s an honor to be around a horse like her,” McPeek said. “Every trainer hopes to train a horse like her. She’s easy-going and very talented. I think the sport is all about good horses and she’s like a magnet for people to come into the game.”
Thorpedo Anna was an easy winner at the CCA Oaks despite a difficult start, jumping up on the starting line in 2nd place of 4 and hitting the gate to break the slowest position behind sharp Leslie’s Rose . Standing pilot Brian Hernandez, Jr. was not fazed, and allowed his horse to use his athleticism to recover well and break away from his rivals to hang on in second place until the finish line.
Leslie’s Rose had opened up a gap between herself and Thorpedo Anna behind, but Hernandez made a slight adjustment and his horse needed only a few strides to quickly close in on the leader and gain control exiting the turn. She broke away with confident control, with Hernandez marking the crop on the right and crossing the wire to finish the race in 1:50.95.
“She’s fine,” McPeek said. “She’s just breathing rarefied air. It was scary, but not bad. When you see her coming at (Leslie’s Rose) with so little effort, you think she has a good chance. It’s amazing.”
Now, McPeek faces the decision of whether to keep his star mare in a class she dominated at the $600,000 Alabama on August 17 or try her hand against other stallions at the Travers a week later.
McPeek said he was fine with taking his time to make an informed decision.
“We’re working through every detail,” McPeek said. “We’re working through everything.”
Bred in Kentucky by Judy Hicks, Thorpedo Anna has proven her worth far beyond her frugal purchase price of $40,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, currently sitting on a total of $1,980,663 in prize money. Her resume also includes a Fantasy (G2) win in March at Oaklawn Parkhelping her complete four appearances this year.
This press release has been edited for content and style by the BloodHorse team.
