The champ is back.

Immediately following reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna’s victorious return to the races in the March 8 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park, the filly’s breeder, Judy Hicks, summed it up best:

“The ‘Grizzly’ has come out of hibernation and she’s hungry for more!”

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“More” would mean topping her historic 2024 campaign — five Grade 1 wins, including scores in the Longines Kentucky Oaks and Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff and a heartbreaking neck loss to multiple Grade 1 winner Fierceness  in a memorable running of the DraftKings Travers Stakes.

Thorpedo Anna’s 4-year-old return took longer than expected with contemplated trips to the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes and $20 million Saudi Cup scrapped along the way as the racing public anxiously awaited the Horse of the Year’s 2025 debut. However, it was only when trainer Kenny McPeek felt his star pupil was 110% ready for action did she step into the starting gate.

Everything almost went to a ‘T’ for a Team Thorpedo Anna, barring the late gate scratch of Wild Bout Hilary prior to the start of the Azeri. Older and stronger, 4-year-old Thorpedo Anna hardly turned a hair at Wild Bout Hilary’s starting gate antics. A consummate professional, she backed out and then reloaded for the Azeri, outbreaking the field.

Thorpedo Anna winning Azeri Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., the filly’s devout passenger through her 11 trips to the post, was immediately impressed with Thorpedo Anna’s newfound maturity.

“That was one of the things I noticed when we were backing out of the gates, I was thinking if this would’ve happened last year she might’ve thrown a lid because she used to get a little hot and worried up,” Hernandez said.

Gunning to the lead from her rail post, Thorpedo Anna glided over the slick track and cruised through quarter-mile fractions of :24.27, :48.59, and 1:12.99. Facing only mild pressure from the hard-knocking Louisiana-bred mare Free Like a Girl, Hernandez let the bear of a filly loose at the top of the lane and she skyrocketed into a different orbit.

“[Thorpedo Anna] makes us all look good,” Hernandez said. “She just switched leads and hit another gear and I thought ‘OK, we’re gonna be OK from here.’”

Thorpedo Anna sailed to the finish line under a hand ride, outclassing her rivals by 3 1/2 widening lengths.

“As always, she puts in another special run,” McPeek said. “I was glad to see no one wanted to hook her all that hard. As always, Brian knows her so well and she does what she does easy.”

Free Like a Girl, a Cinderella story in her own right as a $5,500 yearling purchase who’s bankrolled more than $2.2 million, was no match for the champion but ran gallantly for runner-up honors.

Last-out Houston Ladies Classic Stakes winner Recharge closed for third, nine lengths behind the winner.

Victorious Thorpedo Anna with Judy Hicks. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Thorpedo Anna returned $2.20 as the overwhelming 1-10 favorite. She stopped the timer in 1:44.02 on a track rated as “wet fast.”

McPeek was remarkably calm and composed on the heels of Thorpedo Anna’s comeback victory, savoring the moment with his once-in-a-lifetime horse.

“She’s going to get beat one day. Every horse gets beat, even with the Zenyattas of the world. I’m just trying to enjoy the ride, you really have to anytime you get a horse this good. I hope every trainer in America gets the chance to train a horse this good.”

Racing for the partnership of Hicks, Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, and Sherri McPeek’s Magdalena Racing, Thorpedo Anna took her earnings past the $4 million mark with her seventh career stakes win in the Azeri. McPeek said a return to Hot Springs, Ark., was imminent for the daughter of Fast Anna in Oaklawn’s $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap April 12.

“I don’t see a reason why not to be back here,” McPeek said. “The timing is good, and if her health is good then I would come back. As you can see, she needs to keep going, she’s like the energizer bunny.”