Zipse: Thorpedo Anna is primed for encore to championship

She is back.

The sensational filly Thorpedo Anna brightened a damp and dreary Saturday afternoon for a large crowd at Oaklawn with a front-running, 3 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2, $400,000 Azeri Stakes.

A unanimous choice for champion 3-year-old filly and landslide choice for horse of the year in 2024, the daughter of Fast Anna won for the ninth time in 11 career starts. The Azeri was her seventh graded-stakes win overall. Six of those came last year in her sophomore season.

Thorpedo Anna wins by 3 1/2 lengths in Azeri.

Thorpedo Anna’s remarkable run to horse-of-the-year honors began in March last year at Oaklawn with an easy win in the Fantasy (G2). She followed that up with Grade 1 wins in the Kentucky Oaks, Acorn, Coaching Club American Oaks, Cotillion and Breeders’ Cup Distaff to close out her championship season.

Her quest to begin a new string of Grade 1 victories will begin next month when she returns to Arkansas for the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap on April 12. It’s a plan mapped out by her trainer Kenny McPeek that, if all goes well, will point to another season culmination at the Breeders’ Cup.

The first step was to bring her back after a layoff following a tough campaign last year. It’s not always easy to return a champion successfully after time away. A case in point was the only other 3-year-old filly in the last 79 years to be named horse of the year, Rachel Alexandra.

Sent off at odds of 1-20 for her debut as an older horse, the great filly was shocked by Zardana in the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes of 2010. No such fate would befall Thorpedo Anna on Saturday.

The overwhelming favorite had little to worry about against four rivals in the Azeri. Sent to post as the 1-10 choice, Thorpedo Anna made every pole a winning one in the 1 1/16-mile test run on a wet, fast track.

Challenged by the pride of Louisiana, Free Like a Girl, around the far turn, Thorpedo Anna changed leads under regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. early in the lane and cruised to the wire from there an easy winner over the game runner-up.

The victory in the Azeri was nothing that the speed-figure boys will rave about, but it was vintage Thorpedo Anna. She is a filly who can be placed anywhere in the early part of the race according to race dynamics, and she always fires.

Thorpedo Anna just loves to run, and although she was not 100% fit Saturday, it was evident that her desire still burns.

Now having surpassed $4 million in earnings, Thorpedo Anna has proven to be an amazing bargain for her ownership group of Judy Hicks, Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards and Sherri McPeek's Magdalena Racing. Picked out of the Fasig-Tipton fall yearling sale of 2022 by Kenny McPeek, she was purchased for a modest $40,000.

A great horse always will make her connections look good, but McPeek and Hernandez are a big part of the Thorpedo Anna story. Not the biggest names in the game, the pair has been successful for a long time.

They hit pay dirt together winning last year’s Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan. In Thorpedo Anna, they have a horse of a lifetime. Their calm and composed nature no doubt has been a positive influence on a filly who seems destined for another big season.

For the first time in years, the male side of the handicap division is absolutely loaded. Sierra Leone, Fierceness, White Abarrio, Locked and Mindframe are all proven at the highest level and at 10 furlongs. With the Japan star Forever Young expected to return to America, this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic has the potential to be special.

On the female side there is Thorpedo Anna. Her only loss at 3 came in a heartbreaker in the 10-furlong Travers (G1) at Saratoga, where she defeated Sierra Leone and Dornoch but could not quite get to Fierceness late. It was such a promising debut against the best of the boys, it should be only a matter of time before she tests them again.

With the pedigree of a horse that does not excite the breeding world, Thorpedo Anna should remain in training for some time. The ultimate goal this year will be another Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, whether it be the Classic or the Distaff, and McPeek already has hinted at bringing her back next year at 5.

Her trainer has done a masterful job of guiding the career of his champion filly to this point, and I trust he will continue to do so as her racing continues. The good news is that Saturday, she was able to transition successfully from her sophomore season to life as an older horse.

For now we can enjoy having the first horse of the year to come back for an expected full season in a decade. Thorpedo Anna is the champ, and she is back. What could be better?