Thorpedo Anna ‘her usual self’ in work ahead of CCA Oaks
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. got reacquainted with Thorpedo Anna Saturday morning and he found his multiple Grade 1 winning 3-year-old filly “to be her usual self,” as he guided her through a five-furlong workout in 1:01.12 over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for her start in next Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks.
Thorpedo Anna was among the first horses on the track on a typically busy Saturday morning over both tracks in Saratoga.
Thorpedo Anna worked in company with Ohio Derby runner-up Gould’s Gold, ridden in the work by Danny Ramsey, and a candidate for the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy on July 27. Leaving the five-furlong pole, the pair broke off slow, going an opening eighth in 13.90 seconds, before picking it up from there. They went the quarter in 25.55 seconds, three furlongs in 37.00, and came home in 24.12 seconds. The pair galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.47 and seven in 1:28.60.
“We got them to break off reasonably slow, from there she drug me around there the whole way and galloped out well,” Hernandez said. “Danny was a little in front of me and I was tracking her and we got to the pole a little on the slow side. From there she went on and did her thing and worked well.
“She was aggressive and kind of her normal self where she’s dominant and wanting to show her dominance,” Hernandez added.
Thorpedo Anna is 3 for 3 this year with all three of her wins coming by four lengths or more including a 5 1/4-length score in the Acorn here on June 7.
Trainer Kenny McPeek said he was happy with the way the pair finished and felt both got out of the work what they needed.
“He’s a nice horse in his own right,” McPeek said of Gould’s Gold. “He needed a steady workmate as well. I gave them strict instructions to stay together, I think they were a little conservative with them not to let them to do too much early. That’s all either one needed.”
Entries for the Coaching Club were to be taken on Sunday. Others expected to enter are Leslie’s Rose, the Acorn runner-up, Candied, winner of the Lady’s Secret Stakes at Monmouth, Intricate, runner-up in the Monomoy Girl Stakes at Churchill Downs, and Barbratina, a recent allowance winner at Churchill Downs.
Leslie’s Rose on Saturday worked a half-mile by herself in 48.70 seconds. Candied went a half-mile in 49.66 seconds in company with Manama Gold, who is going to try turf for the first time in next Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Lake George Stakes.
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