LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Thorpedo Anna has been invincible in her own division since her juvenile finale in the fall of 2023. Her string of eight consecutive divisional victories – she finished second when facing males in the 2024 Travers – includes the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and a pair of one-sided tallies to launch her 2025 campaign earlier this season at Oaklawn Park.
But the reigning Horse of the Year could have her work cut out extending that imposing streak when going up against the Chad Brown-trained duo of Raging Sea and Randomized Friday at Churchill Downs in the $1 million La Troienne. The Grade 1 race will be decided at 1 1/16 miles and lured a field of seven older fillies and mares that also includes outsiders Dorth Vader, Literate, Taxed, and Free Like a Girl.
Thorpedo Anna suffered her lone defeat against her own kind here at Churchill Downs in the 2023 Golden Rod. Her only setback since that outing came when she was defeated a head by Fierceness while running arguably the race of her life last summer at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Travers.
Seven of the eight wins during Thorpedo Anna’s current streak against fillies and mares were of the one-sided variety. Her only close call during that span came in the start after that grueling Travers effort, when she narrowly outlasted Gun Song to register a neck decision in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx. She came back six weeks later to put the punctuation mark on her Horse of the Year campaign with a 2 1/2-length decision over Raging Sea in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
“She’s so steady, workmanlike as always,” trainer Kenny McPeek said when asked about her first two outings this season. “She loves to run, loves to train, loves to eat. She does everything you ask her to do. She just makes our job easier.”
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McPeek said he has little concern about Thorpedo Anna returning on relatively short rest off her 4 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom just three weeks earlier at Oaklawn.
“She knocked out her feed 20 minutes after she ran in the Apple Blossom,” said McPeek. “She’s always been a sturdy filly. The plan all along was to come back here.”
McPeek acknowledged taking on Raging Sea and Randomized will be Thorpedo Anna’s most difficult assignment to date in 2025.
“It should be [her toughest race this year], but we’re going over there as confident as ever,” said McPeek. “And she never lets us down, so we’ll see.”
Brown is equally confident that Raging Sea and Randomized are sitting on big races and are capable of springing the upset in the La Troienne, despite the fact that both will be making their 2025 debuts on Friday. Raging Sea has been idle since futilely chasing home Thorpedo Anna in the BC Distaff, with Randomized sidelined since finishing a distant fourth behind Raging Sea after contesting a rapid pace in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign last August at Saratoga.
“We’ve been pointing both horses to this race for quite a while, and they both look fantastic,” said Brown. “Raging Sea had a great season last year, capped off by a really great run in the Distaff, nd I feel if there was more pace in the race, she might have been able to win. She’s wintered well, had one breeze over the track here, and went terrific. If the pace is good enough in this race. I think she’ll pick up right where she left off.”
The pace in the race will likely be dictated by Randomized, who had been on the lead for the opening six furlongs in six consecutive starts before being engaged right from the outset in the Personal Ensign.
“Randomized came out of her last race at Saratoga sore all over. She was not moving well, so we gave her a lot of time off and she’s come back better than ever,” Brown explained. “She is kind of one-dimensional. She’s doing well right now, and she just might not stop.”
Brown’s main concern for both his mares is the fact they are coming off extended layoffs while facing a formidable rival with two starts under her belt already this season.
“Both horses are coming off a layoff while facing the Horse of the Year with recency. She’s fit, so this is a tall order,” Brown admitted. “That being said, both our horses are very sound, very healthy and very fresh. I’m very, very pleased with what I’ll be leading over to the paddock.”
A victory by any of the other four members of the field would be considered an upset of major proportions. Free Like a Girl finished a distant second behind Thorpedo Anna in both the Apple Blossom and Grade 2 Azeri and has earned nearly $2.5 million during her 50-race career. She was also second behind then-reigning BC Distaff champion Idiomatic in the 2024 renewal of this event.
– additional reporting by David Grening
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