'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) continued her assault on the sophomore fillies division with a spectacular 4 1/2-length victory over Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) in Saturday's GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga. But it was not all smooth sailing for the GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Acorn Stakes heroine.
Off as the 1-4 favorite while facing four rivals here, she hopped at the start and subsequently hit the gate and immediately trailed the quartet. She rushed up beneath Brian Hernandez, Jr., however, and was quickly in a perfect stalking second behind GI Ashland Stakes winner Leslie's Rose (Into Mischief) through an opening quarter in :24.28. Always traveling like the winner, Thorpedo Anna inhaled the pacesetter approaching the quarter pole, kicked for home in complete command and ran up the score in the stretch over the aforementioned 2023 GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes winner to make it a perfect four-for-four on the year.
“I hope we haven't seen the best of her yet,” winning trainer Ken McPeek said. “We've seen quite a bit of good of her. She really hasn't been challenged. Even today, he didn't hit her. He said he flagged her, but he didn't actually reach back and hit her. We don't know what will happen when he does that–she might find two or three more lengths.”
And, as for the $1.25-million question. Will we see her take on males later this summer in the GI DraftKings Travers Stakes?
“If I run her in the Alabama, as a wagering [prospect] it's no fun for anybody,” McPeek said. “Nobody is going to run against her and what would she be–1-2 or less? I like challenges. I'd be sticking my neck out a little bit, but I think the sport could really enjoy seeing a filly take on the colts. Whether it's Genuine Risk or Winning Colors or Swiss [Skydiver]–I'll look at the numbers, look at them really hard and try to make an educated decision if I think we can run with them. I watched Dornoch today [winning the GI Haskell] and he ran 1:50 and change–there's not much separation there, at least on time. It's a good problem.”
Hernandez added, “She got just a little anxious in there a couple of times and right before they sprung them, she kinda got a little anxious again and then when she broke she just like hopped up. It just goes to show you how talented she is cause when she hopped, she came down so fast that they weren't able to get away from her and she was able to secure that spot going into the first turn. That made all the difference in the world because once we were able to secure that spot and force Leslie's Rose forward a little, it made it to where my filly could just travel in a nice rhythm after that.”
He continued, “The last eighth of a mile, it was just her. She had her ears up and was looking around at the grandstand. I was kinda looking out of the corner of my eye at the infield at the big screen to make sure no one was really making a run at her. She was just kinda playing around and messing with me more than anything.”
Pedigree Notes:
Thorpedo Anna was bred by Judy Hicks, who took on the mare as a charitable act and later stayed in for a piece of the filly.
“She was premature; seven, eight weeks premature when she was born,” Hicks explained following her Kentucky Oaks victory. “She was 45″ tall, weighed 60 pounds. Her hocks were crushed. And there wasn't much hope of any future for her. So I volunteered to take her from the owners, Mr. Sanford Robertson and Kathryn Nikkel, who bred her. And Mr. Robertson graciously gave her to me when I volunteered to keep her. And I tried to do my magic and it worked.”
Sanford Robertson campaigned Thorpedo Anna's third dam Aldebaran Light to three wins from five starts at River Downs and went on to breed successfully from her. Robertson campaigned Aldebaran Light's foal of 2001, a Stravinsky colt named Balmont, to a victory (via DQ) in the 2003 G1 Middle Park S. for trainer Jeremy Noseda, while Eskendereya (Giant's Causeway) helped to further enhance the family with victories in the 2010 GI Wood Memorial S. and GII Fountain of Youth S.
Thorpedo Anna is the second foal out of the 9-year-old Sataves. The first, Charlee O (Tonalist) earned over $100,000 on the track. Thorpedo Anna was purchased by McPeek for $40,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale in 2022. Sataves is also the dam of the 2-year-old colt McAfee (Cloud Computing), a $40,000 purchase by Maddie Mattmiller Keeneland last September, and the daughter of Uncle Mo foaled a filly by Known Agenda-already named After the Storm-earlier this year. Thorpedo Anna is the lone graded winner for the late Three Chimneys stallion Fast Anna.
She does it again! 🐻✨
Thorpedo Anna dominates in the G1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga! 🏆 @b_hernandezjr @KennyMcPeek pic.twitter.com/E1jk8IDB7e
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) July 20, 2024
Saturday, Saratoga
COACHING CLUB AMERICAN OAKS-GI, $465,000, Saratoga, 7-20, 3yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:50.95, ft.
1–THORPEDO ANNA, 122, f, 3, by Fast Anna
1st Dam: Sataves, by Uncle Mo
2nd Dam: Pacific Sky, by Stormy Atlantic
3rd Dam: Aldebaran Light, by Seattle Slew
'TDN Rising Star'. ($40,000 Ylg '22 FTKOCT). O-Nader Alaali,
Mark Edwards, Judy B. Hicks and Magdalena Racing (Sherri
McPeek); B-Judy Hicks (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Brian
Joseph Hernandez, Jr. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 7-6-1-0,
$1,980,663.Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Candied, 120, f, 3, by Candy Ride (Arg)
1st Dam: Toni Tools (SW, $193,339), by Roaring Fever
2nd Dam: Patine, by Smart Strike
3rd Dam: Burnish, by Menifee
($165,000 Ylg '22 FTKJUL). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners;
B-Buck Pond Farm, Inc. (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $100,000.
3–Intricate, 118, f, 3, by Gun Runner
1st Dam: Complex Analysis, by Distorted Humor
2nd Dam: Tabarin, by El Prado (Ire)
3rd Dam: La Cucina (Ire), by Last Tycoon (Ire)
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($200,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $280,000 2yo
'23 OBSAPR). O-Bradley Thoroughbreds, Laura Leigh Stable,
Scott Estes and Cambron Equine, LLC; B-LBD Stable, LLC (KY);
T-Brendan P. Walsh. $60,000.
Margins: 4HF, 4, 7. Odds: 0.25, 3.95, 10.90.
Also Ran: Leslie's Rose. Scratched: Barbratina.
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