Thorpedo Anna takes care of business with rebound in Fleur de Lis

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Was it a Horse of the Year level performance? No, not really, but at least Thorpedo Anna, Horse of the Year in 2024, laid to rest her seventh-place finish last month in the La Troienne Stakes when she won the Fleur de Lis on a steamy Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Facing just four foes, none of whom could hold a candle to Thorpedo Anna on her best day, the great filly pressed surprising pacesetter Royal Spa for the Fleur de Lis’s first six furlongs, edged alongside her approaching the three-furlong marker, took the lead before turning for home, and gradually drew clear to a three-length victory in the Grade 2, $500,000 Fleur de Lis.

The performance looked nothing like the La Troienne, where Thorpedo Anna got knocked around going into the first turn and never recovered, trudging home 8 1/2 lengths behind the winner.

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“The last race was such a head-scratcher,” said trainer Kenny McPeek. “I mean, it was just like, what was that? But I’m 90 percent sure that the mugging she took in the first turn was the reason why.”

McPeek believes a hard bump took the air out of Thorpedo Anna, and while her Fleur de Lis didn’t take your breath away, she did return to the dominant ways that won a remarkable five Grade 1s as a 3-year-old as well as the Grade 1 Apple Blossom this spring.

Royal Spa stayed on gamely to finish second, 4 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Taxed, who made a brief run to the quarter pole before flattening out. A dull Gin Gin and overmatched Save Time finished fourth and fifth. Thorpedo Anna (94 Beyer Speed Figure) paid $2.70 and ran 1 1/8 miles over a fast track in 1:48.52 while winning for the 11th time in 14 starts.

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., like others reading the past performances, figured Thorpedo Anna might end up leading, but Royal Spa broke sharply from the rail and jockey Flavien Prat didn’t attempt to rein her in. Altered plans distressed neither Hernandez nor the filly beneath him, and they sat just outside and behind Royal Spa through a quarter mile in 23.43 and a half in 47.07.

“The good thing about this filly is she’s so tactical and good at about everything,” Hernandez said. “She just kind of sat out there and the only thing, my biggest concern going down the backside, she was moving along, and I just kept telling myself, just stay out of her way, just let her travel.”

Thorpedo Anna pulled Hernandez into contention after turning into the second bend and she dueled for about a furlong with Royal Spa. Fifty yards late to change leads, Thorpedo Anna eventually swapped to her correct leg past the three-sixteenths pole, briefly surged, and was home. Hernandez said Thorpedo Anna tired slightly in the late stages, understandable since she hadn’t run a real race since April 12, and because McPeek said he’d trained her lightly into Saturday’s contest.

McPeek trains Thorpedo Anna for Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks, and Magdalena Racing. Thorpedo Anna, by Fast Anna out of Sataves, by Uncle Mo, was purchased at auction for $40,000 and with another $308,500 in her account after Saturday’s win she has earned purses of more than $5.1 million.

McPeek has a three-race schedule plotted for the rest of the year: The Personal Ensign on Aug. 23 at Saratoga, the Spinster on Oct. 5 at Keeneland, and then a repeat bid in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. Thorpedo Anna earned a fees-paid berth for the BC Distaff with Saturday's win, as the Fleur de Lis is part of the Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" program. McPeek said Thorpedo Anna ships to Saratoga on about July 9. She goes there off a win, looking far more like a champion than two months ago at Churchill.

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