Breeders' Cup Distaff: Thorpedo Anna won't have it so easy
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If the prospective field for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff stays intact, early favorite Thorpedo Anna is not a lock to score a repeat victory next month at Del Mar.
Fourteen fillies and mares are under Distaff consideration, double the number that ran in the mundane 2024 Distaff won by Thorpedo Anna at 2-5. She was lone speed in a field decimated by scratches and early retirement.
The 2025 Distaff is coming up stronger, and the final prep is Sunday’s Grade 1 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland. There, Thorpedo Anna faces hotshot 3-year-old Nitrogen in a race that could cement Distaff favoritism. Trainers of other Distaff candidates planned to wait until after the Spinster to commit.
Cavalieri and Seismic Beauty, Grade 1 winners in California, give Bob Baffert two shots at his first Distaff. Cavalieri overcame a bad start to win the Grade 2 Zenyatta last week at Santa Anita, while Seismic Beauty earned a 110 Beyer winning the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch in her last start on Aug. 21 at Del Mar. Pending the Spinster, Seismic Beauty will enter the Distaff with the top recent figure.
Dorth Vader, who won the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps in June over a sloppy track at Saratoga, proved two starts later that her wet-track win was not a fluke. Racing on a fast track at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 23, Dorth Vader missed by a nose to Thorpedo Anna. Dorth Vader’s trainer, George Weaver, elected to skip an autumn prep and go straight to the Distaff.
“We felt like she laid it on the line and ran her heart out the last time she ran against Thorpedo Anna,” Weaver said. “She’s had a busy enough campaign. I felt like we had a better chance to win the Breeders’ Cup bringing her in there fresh. She’s a narrowly made filly that puts a lot into her everyday training.”
Clicquot, Dry Powder, and Scottish Lassie – first, second, and fourth in the Grade 1 Cotillion for 3-year-old fillies on Sept. 20 at Parx – are targeting the Distaff or have it under consideration. Gun Song and Royal Spa, recent Grade 2 winners, also have the Distaff on their radar.
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Sarawak Rim, a Win and You’re In Group 1 winner in Argentina, is training at Keeneland with Ignacio Correas IV and will make her U.S. debut in the Distaff. Other candidates are Alice Verite from Japan, Spinster entrant Leslie’s Rose, and Grade 2 Delaware Handicap winner Regaled.
Thorpedo Anna has won 4 of 5 this year following her 2024 Horse of the Year campaign. Kenny McPeek trains Thorpedo Anna, whose new rider, Flavien Prat, seeks his first Distaff win. Regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. is injured.
Another key rider switch will affect Seismic Beauty or Cavalieri, as Juan Hernandez is the regular rider for both. Hernandez would be seeking his first win in a Breeders’ Cup race.
Breeders’ Cup officials list Scylla as a Distaff candidate, although she has not run in a route since summer 2024. As for Om N Joy, also listed as a Distaff candidate, maybe next year. Trainer Aggie Ordonez said she is aiming Om N Joy to the Grade 2 Raven Run on Oct. 18 at Keeneland.
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