Thorpedo Anna brings rare credentials to Azeri at Oaklawn

For just the third time, a reigning horse of the year will run at Oaklawn when Thorpedo Anna makes her 4-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Azeri Stakes for older fillies and mares.

An ancient set of past performances points to a close finish. The modern version screams blowout.

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Favorite Trick and Azeri herself were the only reigning horses of the year to compete at Oaklawn since the Eclipse Awards debuted in 1971. Favorite Trick, the 1997 champion, was unbeaten in nine career starts before he finished third at 2-5 behind Victory Gallop in the 1998 Arkansas Derby (G2). Azeri, the 2002 horse of the year and another 2-5 favorite, won by a head over Kenny McPeek-trained Take Charge Lady in the 2003 Apple Blossom (G1).

Twenty-two years later McPeek brings Thorpedo Anna, the 2-5 program favorite, into the Azeri.

“I just hope I’m not on the same side of the photo this year,” McPeek said Friday morning.

The 1 1/16-mile Azeri headlines an 11-race card that begins at 1:30 p.m. EST. The Azeri, the 10th race, is scheduled for 6:25 p.m. It is Oaklawn’s final major prep for the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on April 12.

Thorpedo Anna’s accomplishments tower over her six rivals.

She was a unanimous choice for the U.S. and Canada’s champion 3-year-old filly and a runaway winner for horse of the year after compiling a 7: 6-1-0 record and earning $3,653,050. All six victories were stakes, including Oaklawn’s $750,000 Fantasy (G2) in her 3-year-old debut last March.

Following the 1 1/16-mile Fantasy, Thorpedo Anna raced exclusively in Grade 1 events the rest of 2024 and secured year-end honors with victories in the Kentucky Oaks, the Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks, the Cotillion at Parx and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar in her last start Nov. 2. The 1 1/8-mile Distaff marked Thorpedo Anna’s first race against older horses.

Recharge and Wild Bout Hilary are the only other graded-stakes winners entered in the Azeri. Recharge won the Houston Ladies Classic (G3) on Jan. 25 at Sam Houston, and Wild Bout Hilary took the Bayakoa (G3) on Feb. 8 at Oaklawn.

Thorpedo Anna has recorded triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in two of her last three starts, according to Daily Racing Form. They included a career-best 111 in her only loss last year, a runner-up finish against males in the Travers (G1) on Aug. 24 at Saratoga. Thorpedo Anna was beaten by a head by Fierceness in the 1 1/4-mile mid-summer derby.

Jody’s Pride with a 95 owns the second-highest, last-out Beyer. It came in a third-place finish in the $215,000 Inside Information Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares going seven furlongs Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

“That’s really the idea to run her (Thorpedo Anna) in this race, to bring her into the Apple Blossom,” McPeek said. “This is just prepping her for that. All of her races, there’s a lot of energy around them. She’s had that since she won the Oaks. It definitely puts you on the edge of your chair, but that’s fine. That’s where you want to be.”

Thorpedo Anna returned to the track in early January at Gulfstream Park to begin preparations for her 4-year-old debut. She tuned up for the Azeri with four published workouts since Feb. 8 at Fair Grounds, where she drilled five furlongs in 1:00.8 on Saturday.

Thorpedo Anna romped to a four-length victory in the Fantasy off a similar layoff.

“She is doing very well,” said Brian Hernandez Jr., who has ridden Thorpedo Anna in all 10 career starts. “(Retired jockey) Robby Albarado gets on her every morning, and he just keeps saying how well she is doing. She (was) down here in New Orleans for about a month. I have worked her three times down here in New Orleans. Her final work was last Saturday by herself. She was her normal professional self. Worked a really good (five furlongs) and had a big gallop out all the way around the turn.”

The only previous time Thorpedo Anna broke from the rail was in the Travers, when she brushed the “near side stall at the start,” according to footnotes from the official race chart. Hernandez said he’s not concerned about Saturday’s rail draw.

“We just need to make sure she is ready to leave the gates in good order and go from there,” Hernandez said.

McPeek said his instructions will be straightforward on a day when it could be wet. The National Weather Service said there is a 50% chance of up to a quarter-inch of rain in the afternoon.

“I’ll tell Brian to just let her run,” McPeek said. “Don’t get fancy. That’s the way it was in the Oaks. Looks like we might get a sloppy track. She likes a sloppy track. We’ll leave it with her.”

Free Like a Girl was second, beaten by a head in the Bayakoa, her 11th attempt to win a graded stakes. The leading Louisiana-bred money winner in history with $2,173,438, Free Like a Girl finished second to 2023 champion older dirt female Idiomatic in the La Troienne (G1) at 1 1/16 miles in May at Churchill Downs. Idiomatic was making her 2024 debut in the La Troienne.

“That’s what everybody’s been asking,” said Chasey Deville Pomier, who co-owns and trains Free Like a Girl. “I said if I ever want to face a champion filly like this, it’s definitely the first race off of a layoff. But I would not want to face her again for sure. She’s a monster. If anything we’re going to be running for second, but our goal is to get there and be as tough as we can be.”

Thorpedo Anna arrived late Thursday afternoon at Oaklawn. She visited the indoor paddock and galloped 1 1/2 miles after the surface renovation break Friday morning under Albarado, her regular exercise rider and Oaklawn’s leading jockey in 1996 and 1997.

Albarado said Thorpedo Anna has been “professional” since returning to Oaklawn. 

“She basically trains herself,” Albarado said. “You don’t have to make her do anything. She’ll train herself.”

Thorpedo Anna, a Kentucky-bred daughter of the late Fast Anna, has a 10: 8-2-0 record and earnings of $3,843,663. She races for a partnership that includes her breeder Judy Hicks, McPeek’s wife Sherri and her Magdalena Racing and Kentucky attorney Mark Edwards. She was bought for just $40,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale.