At this point, Thorpedo Anna needs no introduction. Against the boys in the Aug. 24 Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, she clinched her spot in horse racing lore with a grandstand-shaking stretch rally that ended just a head short of victory.
With the ultimate test of her season now behind her, the daughter of Fast Anna returns to the filly division in search of a fourth grade 1 victory in the $1 million Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing Sept. 21.
Video: Draftkings Travers S. (G1)
"She came out of the Travers super, no worse for wear. Steady as she goes, solid as ever," trainer Kenny McPeek said.
Even with a surprise defeat to one of her seven challengers Saturday, Thorpedo Anna has virtually locked up the Eclipse Award for 3-year-old filly. However, a trip to the Cotillion winner's circle is still a critical résumé addition in her campaign for Horse of the Year.
Thorpedo Anna has earned more than $2 million this year for Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks, and Magdalena Racing, and, despite her loss to Fierceness, is entering off a career-best Equibase Speed Figure of 109.
Regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. will travel to Bensalem, Pa., where Thorpedo Anna will break from post 6 as the 4-5 morning line favorite,.
The Challengers
Connections of the seven fillies attempting an upset will need to hope that the big Travers effort may have taken a toll on the presumptive champion, leaving her vulnerable in this 1 1/16-mile race.
Lea Farms' Power Squeeze has quietly been putting together an impressive year herself, with five wins from seven starts for earnings of $860,870. The Union Rags filly took advantage of Thorpedo Anna's absence in the Aug. 17 Alabama Stakes (G1), getting up in the final jumps to win the 1 1/4-mile race by a head. Trained by Jorge Delgado, the 4-1 second choice breaks from the rail, with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. replacing the injured Javier Castellano.
Early this spring, it was Godolphin's Tarifa who led the division. Now as the fall begins, the Bernardini filly finds herself the 5-1 Cotillion third choice. In her first start since a disappointing ninth behind Thorpedo Anna in a sloppy edition of the Kentucky Oaks (G1), the Brad Cox trainee finished second in the Aug. 11 Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park. She breaks from post 3 with Flavien Prat.
Also in the Field
- Sidamara lost by a nose to Power Squeeze in her last start and stakes debut, the July 8 Delaware Oaks (G3).
- Mystic Lake has risen in the sprint division, winning two graded stakes in her last three starts. Her only race beyond a mile resulted in a third-place finish in the Nov. 4 Mazarine Stakes (G3) at Woodbine.
- George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) winner Gun Song disappointed in her lone meeting with Thorpedo Anna in the June 7 Acorn Stakes (G1) but won Parx's local prep, the Aug. 24 Cathryn Sophia Stakes, by 2 1/2 lengths.
- Scalable defeated Gun Song in the July 27 Monmouth Oaks (G3) by three-quarters of a length, posting a career-best 97 Equibase Speed Figure.
- Everland has made only two of 12 starts on dirt, including a fifth in the Kentucky Oaks. She is cross-entered Saturday in the $175,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs.
The Cotillion is race 12 with post time at 5:20 p.m. ET.
Parx Racing, Saturday, September 21, 2024, Race 12Entries: Cotillion S. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Power Squeeze (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 126 Jorge Delgado 4/1 2 2Scalable (KY) Paco Lopez 124 Todd A. Pletcher 10/1 3 3Tarifa (KY) Flavien Prat 124 Brad H. Cox 5/1 4 4Everland (KY) Luan Machado 122 Eric N. Foster 20/1 5 5Sidamara (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 122 William I. Mott 6/1 6 6Thorpedo Anna (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 126 Kenneth G. McPeek 4/5 7 7Gun Song (KY) John R. Velazquez 124 Mark A. Hennig 10/1 8 8Mystic Lake (FL) Mike E. Smith 120 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 12/1
