When Kenny McPeek talks about his approach to buying horses, he can get pretty technical.
“All of my career, I have been a middle or even lower market yearling buyer,” the trainer said. “In a way, it’s a good thing because there is no pressure. It’s all upside and I have been able to sharpen my eye doing this in the middle to lower market.”
But when he talks about Thorpedo Anna, the 4-5 morning-line favorite for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar on Saturday, his tone changes completely.
The Story Behind McPeek’s Latest Star: Thorpedo Anna
The trainer first saw the imposing filly two years ago at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, and his initial reaction was, to say the least, visceral.
“I was just like, ‘whoa!” McPeek said. “She just had this presence and a fantastic conformation.”
Thorpedo Anna #6 with Brian Hernandez riding won the $1,000,000 Grade I Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in Bensalem, PA on September 21, 2024. Second was Gun Song #7 with John Velazquez. Photo by Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO.
McPeek has had great success with relatively inexpensive fillies before. Take Charge Lady, whom he bought in 2000 for $175,000, went on to win $2.4 million and was later sold for $4.2 million while in foal to Seeking the Gold. More recently, his $35,000 acquisition, Swiss Skydiver, won the 2020 Preakness Stakes (G1) en route to a $2.2 million bankroll and year-end honors as champion 3-year-old filly. She sold for $4.7 million after she was retired.
“I never felt I would have a filly as good as Take Charge Lady and then along came Swiss Skydiver. And now Anna,” he said. “I don’t know if there were any expectations at the beginning. She built all the expectations.”
He left the 2022 sale have paid just $40,000 for the daughter of the late sire Fast Anna, who in his modest racing career won $296,731 and commanded a $10,000 stud fee.
Her dam, the Uncle Mo mare Sataves, was born prematurely and was so diminutive she was never considered a racing prospect. That such an eye-catching physical specimen as Thorpedo Anna could come from such an unlikely pairing was an indication of just how special the filly would be.
“[Although] you never know,” said McPeek. “I was really enamored with the filly at the auction. I thought she was an incredible physical … but who would have thought she’d be the filly she is? It does make for one of those feel-good stories.”
Thorpedo Anna, whose ownership group comprises Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, the McPeek family’s Magdelena Racing, and her breeder, Judy Hicks (who immediately after the sale asked to be included in the partnership group), has been rewarded with a lot more than a good story.
Four-time Grade 1 winner with a dominating presence
in While 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan tops McPeek’s leading money earners with more than $4.1 million bankrolled, Thorpedo Anna is next with $2,803,633.
She won her first two starts by a combined margin of 17 ½ lengths and closed out her 2-year-old campaign with her only loss against fillies, coming in second after hopping at the start of the Golden Rod (G2) at Churchill Downs.
Her sophomore campaign began with an easy win in the Fantasy (G2) at Oaklawn, and she then upended favored Just F Y I by 4 ¾ lengths in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). So dominant was she in the Acorn (G1) and the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga that McPeek sent her out against the boys, only to have her come up a heartbreaking head behind Fierceness in the Travers (G1).
Narrow win in final Distaff tune up, the Cotillion
Thorpedo Anna’s final tune up prior to the Breeders’ Cup was the $1 million Cotillion (G1) at Parx Racing, which turned out to be nothing like anyone expected. Boxed in along the rail for most of the 1 1/16-mile race, she burst through a seam at the last minute to eke out a neck victory over 45-1 shot Gun Song.
We didn’t really have to hammer on her for this race,” said McPeek afterward. “We really, really want to win the next one.”
That being the Distaff, in which she will be facing older fillies and mares for the first time, could thrust her into contention for Horse of the Year honors. At the very least, she sewed up 3-year-old filly honors over the summer.
“She has done everything we have asked her to do and even when we asked a lot out of her in the Travers, she gave us everything she had,” McPeek said.
“We are ultra-confident.”