With every race, every victory, every would-be challenger left chasing in vain, the target Thorpedo Anna has been carrying for the better part of a year swells another size—not that one would know it by the ease with which she shoulders the burden.
Just twice in her career has another rival beaten the reigning Horse of the Year to the wire first with one of those losses coming against a particularly talented member of the opposite sex. She has been merciless to her divisional foes, winning 10 of 11 such meetings, including six grade 1 tests, often with only mild asking from the only jockey she has even known.
Two starts into her 2025 campaign, the 4-year-old version of Thorpedo Anna appears as ruthless as her sophomore self was, cantering to victories in the Azeri Stakes (G2) and Apple Blossom Handicap (G1). Nearly a year to the day after she splashed her dominance all over the Churchill Downs oval, the daughter of Fast Anna will attempt to uncork another feat of strength in Louisville at the expense of those daring to stand on her level.
Before Thorpedo Anna hands off the crown to the next Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine May 2, last year's champion 3-year-old filly will aim to sink deeper into the throne she currently occupies when she headlines a seven-horse field for the $1 million La Troienne Stakes (G1), one of six graded stakes on the Oaks undercard.
It was beneath the twin spires last May when the Kenny McPeek trainee made it clear what a problem she was as she captured the Oaks by 4 3/4 lengths en route to a campaign that saw her join the legendary Rachel Alexandra as the only 3-year-old fillies to win the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. Since claiming the lilies, six more victories have been put on Thorpedo Anna's resume, including a sublime triumph in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), with her only defeat during that time coming when she fell a head short of champion Fierceness in the Travers Stakes (G1).
She's been metronomic in her two outings this season, leading every step of the Azeri Stakes prior to coasting to a 4 1/4 length victory in the Apple Blossom April 12. Where the quick turnaround from the 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom would be seen as a test for even top distaffers, it's routine at this point for the filly whose energy levels—and talent—keep asking for more.
"Anytime you have the target on your back like that, the pressure is ramped up on you and every time I go out there ride her now, I've just got to remember to tell myself to just stay out of her way and let her take care of me," said jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr, who has ridden Thorpedo Anna in each of her 12 career starts. "And that's the beauty of her is that she does things like that. She does things so easily that it makes us all look good. I think that is the golden ticket with her: she is making us all look good and just keeps stepping forward for us."
Outside of her venture against males in the Travers, finding a rival to make Thorpedo Anna dig deep has been a rarity over the last 12 months. Longshot Gun Song put in a brave effort to lose by a neck to the would-be champion in the Cotillion Stakes (G1) last September, but that narrow margin was more a matter of circumstance as Thorpedo Anna was boxed in turning for home.
She will face a pair of grade 1-winning threats Friday from the barn of five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown in Alpha Delta homebred Raging Sea, runner-up to Thorpedo Anna in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, and Klaravich Stables' Randomized. While both mares are dragon slayers in their own right, having each defeated two-time divisional champion Idiomatic last year in grade 1 tests, they will both also be making their seasonal bows in the 1 1/16-miles La Troienne with Randomized not having started since running fourth to her stablemate in the Personal Ensign (G1) last August.
Though few are better than Brown at bringing horses in fresh, McPeek would be shocked to see anything but more of the same from the best horse he has conditioned.
"We planned all along for her to come back after the Apple Blossom to the La Troienne ... and I fully expect her to win again," said McPeek, who co-owns Thorpedo Anna along with his wife Sherri in partnership with Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, and her breeder, Judy Hicks. "She's just amazing. She continues to get bigger and stronger, which is hard to contemplate how much bigger and stronger she can get.
"I'd be surprised if they beat her."
