McPeek: Official Decision on Thorpedo Anna Coming Soon

Trainer Kenny McPeek fell just short of formally announcing the retirement of 2024 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna Oct. 10 during his "Horse Races Now" podcast. "There is a very good possibility that we officially announce her retirement soon," McPeek told podcast host Teague Ridge. "I would be surprised if that changed. Racing horses is like surfing, and you're trying to catch a huge wave. Well, we've been on a huge wave, but eventually they come to shore." McPeek said Thorpedo Anna, a 4-year-old daughter of Fast Anna whom he bought for $40,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, came out of a fourth-place finish in the Oct. 5 Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland in good condition. "I think this is more mental than physical," he said. "I think she's just had enough. She didn't hit her leads right the other day and seems like she was struggling. When they gathered around her in the middle of the turn, she threw in the towel." McPeek added that he did see some indication that Thorpedo Anna might be losing her competitive fire when she breezed with 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan two weeks prior to the Spinster. "She has typically owned him in the morning, but she didn't during this last workout," he said. "Robby (Albarado) was on Mystik Dan, and he thought Mystik Dan was the better horse. It was not a work that we did anything more than ask her to stay with him. We thought maybe it was fitness, but then she came back and didn't run well, and he came back and won the next weekend." The champion filly is to be evaluated by prominent orthopedic surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage from Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital. McPeek said this evaluation is more about dotting all the i's and crossing the t's before making an official decision on her future. The trainer did say there has been no discussion about sending her to the Breeders' Cup World Championships Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar. She won the 2024 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) there. "It is reasonable to say the ride is over," McPeek said. "She has been incredible. She has more than $5.4 million in earnings and won 10 graded stakes races. But as a mare, I think she said she's done. We are not going to force anything." The timing is good for Thorpedo Anna's transition to being a broodmare, McPeek noted, saying she will need the next several months to let down from the rigors of training and put on some weight. Who Thorpedo Anna might be bred to will be decided by Hill 'n' Sale Farm at Xalapa owner John Sikura, who bought a half interest in the champion in August. McPeek said he would favor breeding her to Curlin, Hill 'n' Dale's elite stallion, who McPeek bought as a yearling for $57,000 at the 2005 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Curlin went on to capture consecutive Horse of the Year titles in 2007-08 and earned more than $10.5 million when trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, and in her debut win by Helen Pitts. McPeek had stepped away from training to focus on bloodstock work at the time. "John will ultimately decide who she's be bred to," he said. "But it would be exciting because Curlin was my best male purchase, and she was my best female purchase. I liken (the mating) to breeding like to like. You are taking two horses that have similar bodies because I buy a certain hip and angle of shoulder." Because Thorpedo Anna has multiple owners—Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, McPeek's Magdalena Racing, Mark Edwards, and Judy Hicks (who bred Thorpedo Anna)—McPeek said there is a slight chance the filly could go through a sale if not all the partners want to stay in through her breeding career. He added that he is staying in as is Hicks. McPeek said he also hoped Thorpedo Anna might be boarded at his Magdalena Farm because it is involved in the Horse Country tours, and he would like to be able to show her off to racing fans in the future. He acknowledged that Hill 'n' Dale Farm "is a fantastic place for her in the long run." "I have seen this movie before and know how it ends," he said of her future. "I had Take Charge Lady, and then I had Swiss Skydiver. You need to retire them gracefully and find the right path. I thought Take Charge Lady would be the greatest filly I'd ever train, and I was wrong. Then I thought it would be Swiss Skydiver, and now it is Thorpedo Anna. I don't see how in the world I'll have a filly better than Thorpedo Anna. I just don't see it."