SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y - Even with a head start, they couldn’t beat Thorpedo Anna. Lunging at the start and hitting the side of the gate, Thorpedo Anna was last for the first few strides of Saturday’s Grade 1, $465,000 Coaching Club American Oaks. But the sensational filly quickly recovered under Brian Hernandez Jr., passed the pacesetting Leslie’s Rose at the five-sixteenths pole and went on to a 4 1/2-length victory before an appreciative crowd at sun-splashed Saratoga. Candied, a Grade 1-winning 2-year-old of 2023, finished second, four lengths clear of Intricate, the only horse to have defeated Thorpedo Anna. It was seven lengths back to Leslie’s Rose. Barbratina scratched. Thorpedo Anna, now 4 for 4 this year and 6 for 7 lifetime, added the CCA Oaks to earlier Grade 1 victories in the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn as well as the Grade 2 Fantasy. With the 3-year-old filly championship basically clinched, Thorpedo Anna will now be considered for a start against the boys in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 24. :: Gain a competitive edge at Saratoga with DRF's premier handicapping data — purchase our meet packages today and bet with confidence. “I like challenges,” Ken McPeek, the trainer of Thorpedo Anna, said after the Coaching Club. “I’d be sticking my neck out a little bit, but I think the sport could really enjoy seeing a filly take on the colts. “I’m going to look at the numbers, I’m going to look at them really hard and try to make an educated decision to think we can run with them,” he added. Running Thorpedo Anna against the boys might have been a more difficult decision if McPeek’s Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan was training toward the Travers. But Mystik Dan definitely won’t run in that race and is unlikely to race again this year. The Travers, like the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies on Aug. 17 - the other race here for Thorpedo Anna - is run at 1 1/4 miles. McPeek didn’t seem to shy away from that part of the equation. “I think she’ll keep going,” McPeek said. The only drama in the CCA Oaks came at the start when Thorpedo Anna lunged and hit the right side of the gate. Last for four jumps, Thorpedo rushed up inside of Intricate and was within a length of Leslie’s Rose going into the first turn. Hernandez said Thorpedo Anna was “anxious” in the starting gate. “When she broke, she just hopped up and it cost her,” he said. “But it just goes to show you how talented she is because when she hopped, she came down so fast that they weren’t able to get away from her and she was able to secure that [stalking] spot going into the first turn. Once we were able to secure that spot and force Leslie’s Rose forward a little, it made it to where my filly was able to travel in a nice rhythm after that.” Leslie’s Rose, under John Velazquez, briefly opened up a two-length lead down the backside. But going into the far turn, Hernandez let Thorpedo Anna out a little bit and by the five-sixteenths pole, she zipped by the pacesetter. “When I asked her for just a half a step, she jumped forward so quick I was like ‘Ok, now we’re in good shape,' ” Hernandez said. “I let her cruise by Leslie’s Rose and let her go about her business.” At the three-sixteenths pole, Hernandez snuck a peak at the infield board which shows the race just to see if there was anybody making a run. There wasn’t. In the final furlong, Hernandez said Thorpedo Anna “was just playing around and messing with them more than anything.” Thorpedo Anna, a daughter of Fast Anna owned by Nader Alaali, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks and Sherri McPeek, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.95 and returned $2.50 as the odds-on choice. McPeek said he knew Thorpedo Anna (95 Beyer Speed Figure) was fine with three furlongs to go. “In the middle of the turn you saw her getting ready to swallow the other horse and do her thing,” McPeek said. Now, the question is, will she get to do her thing against the boys in the Travers? Stay tuned. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.