Back in January 2024, trainer Kenny McPeek discussed on video an up-and-coming 3-year-old filly that had him so impressed he preemptively dubbed her class champion.
Little did he know he could have included Horse of the Year when anointing Thorpedo Anna.
"I wasn't really thinking Horse of the Year so much, but I really felt like I had a real chance for her to be champion 3-year-old filly," McPeek said.
It's hard to imagine McPeek felt that strongly Oct. 24, 2022. That was Day 1 of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale. Entering the sales ring as Hip 20, McPeek topped all other bidders at $40,000 for the dark bay or brown yearling out of the Uncle Mo mare Sataves.
Bred by Judy Hicks and owned by Hicks, Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, and Magdalena Racing, Thorpedo Anna is the second Horse of the Year McPeek has been involved with. He was the buying agent in 2005 for two-time Horse of the Year Curlin (2007-08). Things were different with the filly.
"Curlin I didn't handle; I was around him when he was a 2-year-old, but after that, that was about it. But with her, I orchestrated every step," McPeek said.
From the moment Thorpedo Anna burst onto the national stage with her commanding triumph in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), the curiosity of whether she could shine beyond her division took off.
More often than not, such expectations even in the form of hypotheticals are unrealistic. Not for the daughter of Fast Anna.
McPeek was always impressed with her mind. Thorpedo Anna knew she was good and carried herself that way. The trainer said she "reeked class." He calls her disposition her "power aura."
Come race day, she takes it up a notch.
"She's a bit of a high-strung type," McPeek said. "When you take her to the paddock, she gets on the muscle, and she'll even get a bit nervous. But then once you put the saddle on her, she settles. That's kind of a unique trait she has. But she gets keyed up when the race is on the line. But otherwise, she's been one of the easier horses that I've ever handled. She's practically never met a veterinarian, so in some ways, it's very easy to handle a filly like her."
While posting three consecutive dominant wins, fans and commentators wondered how Thorpedo Anna would fare against the boys.
Going head-to-head with a field of colts in the Travers Stakes (G1), Thorpedo Anna made it very clear when she came up short by a head it didn't matter the track or opponent, she deserved to be in any conversation about the best of the year.
She then finished the year with two more wins, including taking the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
It was a year that saw her go 6-1-0 from seven starts and five of those wins came in grade 1 contests.
"It's been an amazing, surreal year really," said McPeek.
There is no plan to retire Thorpedo Anna. McPeek is not just thinking about what 2025 might look like for her, but potentially beyond, giving fans more opportunities to see her run.
"I don't know that it's sunk in," McPeek said of his student forever being linked to the sport's greatest, "but I can tell you this: There's every intention to race her this year. If she has a good season again, I'd love to think that the (ownership) group would want to race her the next year. That's how horses like Zenyatta ended up iconic because they continued to race, and that's what fans need and want."
