When Thorpedo Anna entered the starting gate for the Fantasy Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park March 30, she had a lot to overcome. Despite showing early promise as a 2-year-old, a four-month layoff and the far outside gate in a field of 10 stood between the Kenny McPeek-trained filly and a date with destiny in the May 3 Kentucky Oaks (G1).
Sitting a perfect stalking trip, the test never seemed too challenging. Thorpedo Anna lived up to her name and emphatically motored to a four-length victory under Brian Hernandez Jr., clinching her spot as one of the leading Oaks contenders.
It should come as no surprise that the 3-year-old filly was able to jump every hurdle put in her path. After all, the ability to overcome challenges runs in the family.
In the wee hours of a cold winter night at Judy Hicks' Brookstown Farm in 2015, a mare named Pacific Sky decided that seven and a half months of pregnancy were enough. Her caretakers were very worried what the result might be for the premature foal.
A dark bay filly was born but she measured only 45 inches tall and weighed about 60 pounds. Her hocks were crushed and deformed. Yet, despite her shortcomings, she had a lot of energy.
Owner Sanford Robertson and his agent and longtime friend, Kathryn Nikkel, had planned the mating of Pacific Sky to Ashford stallion Uncle Mo . The unraced mare is a daughter of Stormy Atlantic out of the Seattle Slew mare Aldebaran Light, the dam of grade/group 1 winners Eskendereya and Balmont.
Robertson and Nikkel faced the tough question of what to do with the premature Uncle Mo filly, who clearly would be unable to race. Hicks stepped up and volunteered to take the little filly, and Robertson graciously agreed. With Hicks' tender loving care, the immature filly, who would later be named Sataves, would survive.
With the body of her sire and very short legs, Sataves would grow up to be only about 15 hands. However, by some miracle, she overcame the hard hand dealt to her and could begin her breeding career.
In 2018, Hicks bred Sataves to Tourist . The resulting filly was named Charlee O. Hicks kept the filly for her racing career, in which she earned more than $100,000 before retiring to Hicks' broodmare band. Sataves' second foal was a dark bay filly by Fast Anna, and she would be named Thorpedo Anna.
Hicks liked the filly so much that she asked McPeek if she could stay in on her after she was sold for $40,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Fall Yearling Sale. McPeek said yes and she joined Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, and Magdalena Racing for the next chapter in the miraculous journey of Thorpedo Anna and Sataves.
Now, less than a decade after Sataves nearly lost her life just as it began, her second daughter has a chance to etch her name in history as she bids to become the winner of the 150th Kentucky Oaks—an accomplishment that would have never been possible without the generosity of Robertson and Nikkel, the patience and determination of Hicks, and a courageous little filly who battled to survive against all odds.
