SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There was a time when trainer Kenny McPeek was thinking of pointing Thorpedo Anna to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
After watching Sovereignty win the Travers in the manner in which he did – and combined with the résumé Sovereignty has put together, McPeek seems content to point Thorpedo Anna, the reigning Horse of the Year, to a repeat try in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
“I lean pretty hard against not taking on Sovereignty, he’s such an impressive horse, he’s magical to watch, I’m a big fan,” McPeek said Sunday. “I don’t have a notion or expectation that we can beat him. He’s a really special horse.”
Thorpedo Anna is special as well. She won her seventh Grade 1 stakes on Saturday, winning a bob to nose out Dorth Vader in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign. It was her fourth graded stakes win from five starts this year.
McPeek felt Thorpedo Anna may have been in need of a race, having missed a little time – including one workout – after she shipped to Saratoga following her victory in the Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs in late June.
“When she shipped up here, she got a little overheated, she needed the race. I do think it sets her up for the next one. I didn’t really want to tax her. It reminded me of last year in the Cotillion," McPeek said, referencing Thorpedo Anna's narrow victory over Gun Song in the Grade 1 Cotillion last year.
“We didn’t over-train her going into the Cotillion, she got that done, she had to work for that and she moved forward off of that.”
McPeek said Thorpedo Anna came out of the race “fantastic. I went through all my horses at the barn, she might be the one that’s the freshest, the healthiest.”
McPeek plans to run Thorpedo Anna again before the Breeders’ Cup. He is considering the Grade 3, $400,000 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park on Sept. 28 or the Grade 1, $650,000 Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 5.
McPeek said one of the allures of the Delaware Handicap is that it would be a shorter ship from Saratoga and back if he’s going to leave her in Saratoga all fall like he did last year leading up to the Breeders’ Cup.
Meanwhile, trainer George Weaver was still dealing with the heartbreak of a nose loss to Thorpedo Anna with Dorth Vader, who was a nose in front just before and after the finish.
“I felt like we had the best of her coming to the wire but she got her nose down,” Weaver said. “We all know how great Thorpedo Anna is. It’s very gratifying that our filly stepped up her performance to even get close to her, it’s just a great race all around. We don’t get the win picture, we don’t get the money but we’re very satisfied with her performance and we’re hoping she can continue to make a good impact on this division the rest of the year and hopefully have a shot in the Breeders’ Cup.”
Weaver said he’s not sure if he would run Dorth Vader again before the Breeders’ Cup but if he did races like the Grade 3, $250,000 Beldame at Aqueduct on Sept. 26 or the Spinster would be considered.
“She’s a light-framed filly and ran hard and possibly ran her best number yesterday, so we’ll see how the filly comes out of it and come up with a plan,” Weaver said. “There’s a good chance we take our best shot at the Breeders’ Cup off the layoff.”
Both Dorth Vader and third-place finisher Leslie’s Rose got bumped by Bernietakescharge in the vicinity of the three-furlong pole in the Personal Ensign. Todd Pletcher said that was at that point when Dorth Vader was making her move while Leslie’s Rose had to pause.
“She ran evenly down the lane, but lost some critical ground right there, but she ran hard like she always does,” Pletcher said.
Raging Sea and Randomized finished fourth and sixth, respectively, for trainer Chad Brown. It was third straight supbar performance for Raging Sea, last year’s Personal Ensign winner and BC Distaff runner-up. Randomized was likely dueled into defeat by Bernietakescharge.
Brown said both fillies – and all his horses on the Saturday card – came out of their races fine physically.
“When certain horses don’t perform well at all, it’s going to take longer to figure out the future,” Brown said.
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