McPeek Believes Distance Will Not Faze Thorpedo Anna

In the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby (G1) there's one frequently asked question that gets a general answer of "We'll see."

That question, of course, asks how their 3-year-old will fare at the 1 1/4-mile distance in the Run for the Roses, which will be a new experience for all of them.

The same question can be posed to trainer Ken McPeek. His brilliant 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna  is not only facing males for the first time in the Aug. 24 Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, but it will also be her initial try at a mile-and-a-quarter distance.

Yet there's no uncertainty in McPeek's mind as to how the daughter of Fast Anna will handle the 1 1/4 miles.

"I do not think the distance will be a problem for her whatsoever," McPeek said. "She's a strong galloper. She covers a lot of ground in those gallops. She can stretch out."

Thorpedo Anna earned her way into the Travers by reeling off victories in a trio of grade 1 stakes, starting with the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and ending with the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) with the Acorn Stakes (G1) nestled in between. She recorded those victories, the latter two at the Spa, by a lopsided combined margin of 14 3/4 lengths.

Though the Travers features the top members of the 3-year-old male division—Dornoch , Fierceness , and Sierra Leone —McPeek believes his filly can compete with all of them and deserves a shot in a race that could seal Horse of the Year honors for her and crown her as the first distaff Travers winner since 1915.

"I won the Travers with Golden Ticket (in 2012) and she's a lot better than Golden Ticket," McPeek said. "She's been so dominant in her division that she deserves a chance to go out there and see if she's that's good. The window is there. You only get one small window and everything has come together right.

In an eight-horse field, Thorpedo Anna, the 3-1 co-second choice in the morning line, drew the rail. Given her natural speed, that would seem to paint her as the early leader in the run to the first turn if she breaks well. But that's not on McPeek's mind at the moment. He's leaving that up to jockey Brian J. Hernandez Jr.

"That's all up to Brian. It isn't what I think," McPeek said. "I don't want to get caught up thinking about things I can't control like that, the weather, my daughter. That will sort itself out when the gates open."

Owned by Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks, and the Magdalena Racing of McPeek and his wife, Sherri, Thorpedo Anna has won six of seven career starts. She suffered her lone loss when she closed out her 2-year-old season with a second in the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.

Bred in Kentucky by Hicks out of the Uncle Mo   mare Sataves, she was bought by McPeek for just $40,000 from the Grovendale Sales consignment at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale and has earned $1,980,663.