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Quickly recovering following a slow start, Thorpedo Anna reeled in front-running Leslie's Rose and cruised to victory in the $500,000 Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks July 20 at Saratoga Race Course. The victory was her fourth in as many starts this year and her third consecutive Grade 1 score following comfortable wins in the Grade 1 DK Horse Acorn Stakes and Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks.
Thorpedo Anna raced 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:50.95. The runaway leader in the 3-year-old filly division, she paid $2.50 to win for trainer Kenny McPeek. Thorpedo Anna raised her career record to 5-1-0 in six overall starts with earnings of $2.7 million.
With Thorpedo Anna heading towards a presumptive 3-year-old filly Eclipse Award, her owners plan to race the filly again next year. Known for running fillies against colts, McPeek may be leaning towards running next in the DraftKings Travers Stakes against males as opposed to the Alabama Stakes against fillies.
"If I run her in the Alabama, it's no fun for anybody. Nobody is going to run against her, and what would she be -- 1-2 or less?" McPeek said. "I like challenges. 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. Whether it's Genuine Risk or Winning Colors or Swiss [Skydiver] -- I'll look at the numbers and try to make an educated decision if I think we can run with them. I watched Dornoch today (winning the Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes), and he ran 1:50 and change. There's not much separation there, at least (based) on time it's a good problem."