The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association will honor national award winners at its 40th anniversary awards dinner Sept. 6 at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in Lexington. Four national winners have been announced ahead of time, and BloodHorse is offering profiles of these winners throughout the week.
Today we profile Sataves, the Broodmare of the Year.
Ten year-old Sataves, the 2024 Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Broodmare of the Year, was a mare born six weeks early and crippled and was not supposed to survive. The daughter of Uncle Mo was severely underdeveloped—only 60 pounds and stood 40 inches tall at birth.
Despite the insurmountable odds stacked against her, when Brookstown Farm owner Judy Hicks first saw Sataves, the young filly was "running around and hollering" in the stall next to her dam. What the filly lacked in body composition, she made up for in heart.
Shortly after Sataves' birth, when it was determined that she would likely never be a racehorse and even the possibility of her becoming a broodmare was uncertain, the filly's breeder Sanford Robertson gave her to Hicks.
"She had a crushed hock that was broken in about fifteen places and she toed in severely," Hicks said. "She also had a few breathing problems. We didn't know if she had ovaries at the time. And so (Sanford) gave her to me and wished me luck."
Slowly but surely, Sataves braved through her health obstacles into adulthood. The 10-year-old mare is still small, standing 14.2 hands tall.
"She's a legal pony size," Hicks said. "But she's got Uncle Mo's body. If you look at her body from her knees up, she looks normal."
In her second trip to the breeding shed, Hicks bred Sataves to the stakes-winning sprinter Fast Anna, who stood for a $10,000 stud fee.
The resulting foal, a filly named Thorpedo Anna, inherited every bit of her mother's resilience and raced her way into history. Capturing six of her seven starts, including five grade 1 victories, Thorpedo Anna was crowned the 2024 Horse of the Year, becoming only the second 3-year-old filly and the seventh female to ever receive racing's highest honor.
Following her daughter's remarkable accomplishments, Sataves was voted the 2024 Broodmare of the Year.
"She only produced one good horse and to be able to get the Broodmare of the Year for one horse is telling of how important to the industry Thorpedo Anna really is," Hicks said.
Thorpedo Anna, under the eyes of trainer Kenny McPeek, returned in 2025 as a 4-year-old and resumed her winning ways. She has won four of her five outings this year, highlighted by victories in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) and Personal Ensign Stakes (G1).
In addition to Thorpedo Anna, Sataves' 3-year-old colt, McAfee, is also beginning to make a name for himself. The son of Cloud Computing has placed in three graded stakes for trainer Rick Dutrow.
"She's the little horse that keeps giving," Hicks said.
Hicks remained a partner on both Thorpedo Anna and McAfee when they passed through the ring as yearlings. However, she is intent on keeping Sataves' youngest offspring for herself, a yearling Known Agenda filly named After the Storm.
"Kenny (McPeek) feels she's Thorpedo Anna in a chestnut version," Hicks said of the Known Agenda filly. "I don't know if we'll ever have another Thorpedo Anna but it's certainly exciting to have her half sister."
