Ken McPeek

With the Del Mar Breeders' Cup officially less than two weeks away, trainer Chad Brown is continuing to oversee his string's preparations at Belmont Park, while the accomplished MGISW Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) puts in her final works for conditioner Ken McPeek upstate at Saratoga. Over the training surface in Elmont, Brown sent out two juveniles for half-mile works in 'TDN Rising Star' Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) [:48.01] and Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) [:48.63], who are targeting the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- The 'Grizzly' is gearing up for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Amid a backdrop of some spectacular fall foliage, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) posted her second workout since capturing the GI Cotillion Stakes in dramatic fashion at Parx Sept. 21, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.63 (1/2) after the break over a sun-splashed Oklahoma Training Track on a delightful Saturday morning in Saratoga Springs. Raring to go beneath regular exercise rider Danny Ramsey, the GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and painful GI Travers Stakes runner-up...

BENSALEM, PA -- The look of sheer relief on the face of trainer Ken McPeek pretty much said it all. Sent off the long odds-on pop and with the bullseye squarely on her back in Saturday's $1-million GI Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) was forced into a perilous trip and found herself locked away for the better part of the opening seven furlongs, but the great ones find a way to win when the chips are down and she clawed her way past...

With better than three months left on the racing calendar for 2024, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) has already locked up the 3-year-old filly championship, having dominated her peers in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, GI Acorn Stakes and GI Coaching Club American Oaks. She lost little in defeat when running fellow 'Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) to a head in the GI Travers Stakes, but she returns to her own sex for Saturday's $1-million GI Cotillion Stakes, the first half of a Grade I double in...

Mystik Dan (Goldencents) has resumed under-tack training at Ken McPeek's Magdalena Farm in Lexington as the GI Kentucky Derby winner attempts to get back in form after he was last seen running eighth in the GI Belmont Stakes, according to a press release on Friday from Churchill Downs. Mystik Dan was training over the summer at Saratoga, but his conditioner opted to give the colt time following his Triple Crown campaign. "He looks fantastic. There's a whole lot of hind quarter back on him," McPeek said. "This is going to...

by Tim Wilkin, courtesy Wednesday's Pennsylvania Derby & Cotillion News The echoes that bounced off the rafters at Saratoga Race Course last month are still fresh in the mind of Brian Hernandez, Jr. The 38-year-old jockey can still hear the noise as he rode Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) to a heart-pounding second--beaten by a head--behind Fierceness (City of Light) in the GI Travers Stakes. Thorpedo Anna's bid to become the first filly to win the Travers in 109 years came up just short. Now, the page has turned to Parx...

'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) drew gate six in a field of eight and was made the 4-5 morning-line favorite when post positions were drawn Monday for Saturday's GI Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in suburban Philadelphia. Trainer Ken McPeek will once again give Brian Hernandez, Jr. a leg up on Thorpedo Anna, whose victories in the GI Kentucky Oaks, GI Acorn Stakes and GI CCA Oaks have virtually clinched the 3-year-old filly championship with better than two months of racing left in 2024. She covered herself in...

Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks and Magdalena Racing's Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) posted her final work Saturday at Saratoga in preparation for Saturday's GI Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing. Trained by Kenny McPeek, the GI Kentucky Oaks winner covered five furlongs in 1:00.20 over the Oklahoma dirt training track under regular exercise rider Danny Ramsey. McPeek, who is currently at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, said the report on the filly's work was positive. "All accounts are that she worked super and came out super," said McPeek. "She's doing...

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.--While it wasn't the scenario he expected at the beginning of the month, trainer John Ortiz will be busy late Saturday afternoon saddling the fillies Brightwork (Outwork) and 'TDN Rising Star' Quietside (Malibu Moon) in consecutive stakes at Saratoga Race Course. First up will be WSS Racing's Brightwork in the GIII $200,000 Prioress Stakes, scheduled for 5:04 p.m. ET. Immediately after the six-furlong Prioress, Ortiz will scoot back to the paddock to prepare Shortleaf Stable's Quietside in the $300,000 GI Spinaway Stakes, which Brightwork won last year. When...

The public may have given up on Fierceness (City of Light) before the GI DraftKings Travers S., sending last year's 2-year-old champion off at 7-2. It was all about his inability to string together two good races. But owner Mike Repole remained confident and that confidence was rewarded in the Travers in a victory that put his homebred squarely in the mix for Horse of the Year. To talk about Fierceness, and also his desire to make changes in the sport through his National Thoroughbred Alliance, Repole joined this week's...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-When it became perfectly clear that the finish of Saturday's $1.25-million, GI DraftKings Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course was going to be desperately close, trainer Todd Pletcher went to work. Sitting up in his clubhouse box, the normally composed Pletcher rose to his feet and screamed and yelled for his 3-year-old colt Fierceness (City of Light) to get the job done in the Midsummer Derby. "I knew it was getting close," the Hall of Fame trainer said outside his office at his barn at the Oklahoma Training...

When 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) enters the gate for Saturday's $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga, it'll be more than a sporting gesture on the part of the ownership group and trainer Ken McPeek. The conditioner is rolling the dice against a field that includes three other Grade I winners--an oft-brilliant, but sometimes unpredictable reigning Eclipse Award champion, a Classic winner over the course and distance and a seven-figure yearling whose full potential has yet to be realized. Sure, Thorpedo Anna could have faced her peers in...