SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Thorpedo Anna had just dominated Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Acorn Stakes at Saratoga and trainer Kenny McPeek wondered if he had selected the wrong race in which to run his talented 3-year-old filly. “I think the first thought was ‘dang, I could have run her in the Belmont', ” McPeek said. “I really felt I could have.” But McPeek has a top contender for Saturday’s $2 million Belmont Stakes in Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan. So, Thorpedo Anna got the opportunity to beat up on many of the same group of fillies she walloped in the Kentucky Oaks five weeks ago, this time rolling to a 5 1/4-length victory over Leslie’s Rose in the Acorn at Saratoga. :: DRF's Belmont Stakes Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more The win followed her 4 3/4-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks, which followed a four-length victory in the Grade 3 Fantasy at Oaklawn Park in March. That résumé puts her clearly atop the 3-year-old filly division. “That was one of our goals coming into this race, was to stamp her as the best 3-year-old in America,” McPeek said. “Whether we take on the colts it’ll be fun, it’ll be interesting.” Thorpedo Anna won the Kentucky Oaks on the front end, repelling an off-the-pace run from Just F Y I, last year’s 2-year-old filly champion. Friday, the connections of Just F Y I tried to change tactics as Junior Alvarado put his filly on the lead right out of the gate. She set fractions of 23.53 seconds for the quarter, 46.75 for the half, and 1:10.24 for six furlongs but had Thorpedo Anna and Brian Hernandez Jr. within a half-length. Thorpedo Anna took over from Just F Y I inside the five-sixteenths pole and ran away from the field in the stretch. Hernandez didn’t want to let Just F Y I have too big of an advantage but he said his filly put him in the perfect spot going into the first turn and he and Thorpedo Anna just tracked her from there. “When we got to the second turn, I didn’t want to let her sneak off and get away from me,” Hernandez said. “I took the initiative to go after her a little bit early and knowing my filly she was going to be able to dominate her, we just kind of let her do it.” Thorpedo Anna, a daughter of Fast Anna owned by Nader Allali, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks, and Sherry McPeek’s Magdalena Racing, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.02 over a fast track, earning a 99 Beyer Speed Figure. She returned $3.50 as the favorite. Perhaps the most anxious moment for McPeek regarding Thorpedo Anna came a few days before the race when she developed a minor cut in her mouth. McPeek said he told Hernandez before the race to “be really light with her up there, you don’t want to get in a wrestling match with her. If you get to wrestling with her, you open it up. I was watching her real close but he said she never felt it.” Leslie’s Rose, who finished 13th in the Kentucky Oaks over a sloppy track, came with an improved effort, finishing second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Power Squeeze. “We were in the spot we wanted to be,” Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Leslie’s Rose, said. “I was hoping they would engage each other a little more but the winner was very settled outside. We were second best today." Following Power Squeeze in order were My Mane Squeeze, Regulatory Risk, Just F Y I, Where’s My Ring, and Gun Song. Bill Mott, the trainer of Just F Y I, said he wanted to change things up from the Kentucky Oaks and make Thorpedo Anna try and run his filly down. “You could say we set the pace, we went fast, but the winner was right on our hip,” Mott said. “If you’re going to beat her, you can’t let her have it.” For now, Thorpedo Anna has control of the 3-year-old filly division and doesn’t appear ready to let go. * The announced attendance Friday was 27,529 and all-sources handle on the 12-race card was $38,580,146. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.