For just the third time, a reigning horse of the year will
run at Oaklawn when Thorpedo Anna makes her 4-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade
2, $400,000 Azeri Stakes for older fillies and mares.

An ancient set of past performances points to a close
finish. The modern version screams blowout.

Click here for Oaklawn entries and results.

Favorite Trick and Azeri herself were the only reigning horses
of the year to compete at Oaklawn since the Eclipse Awards debuted in 1971. Favorite
Trick, the 1997 champion, was unbeaten in nine career starts before he finished
third at 2-5 behind Victory Gallop in the 1998 Arkansas Derby (G2). Azeri, the
2002 horse of the year and another 2-5 favorite, won by a head over Kenny
McPeek-trained Take Charge Lady in the 2003 Apple Blossom (G1).

Twenty-two years later McPeek brings Thorpedo Anna, the 2-5 program
favorite, into the Azeri.

“I just hope I’m not on the same side of the photo this
year,” McPeek said Friday morning.

The 1 1/16-mile Azeri headlines an 11-race card that begins
at 1:30 p.m. EST. The Azeri, the 10th race, is scheduled for 6:25 p.m. It is
Oaklawn’s final major prep for the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap at 1
1/16 miles on April 12.

Thorpedo Anna’s accomplishments tower over her six rivals.

She was a unanimous choice for the U.S. and Canada’s champion
3-year-old filly and a runaway winner for horse of the year after compiling a 7:
6-1-0 record and earning $3,653,050. All six victories were stakes, including
Oaklawn’s $750,000 Fantasy (G2) in her 3-year-old debut last March.

Following the 1 1/16-mile Fantasy, Thorpedo Anna raced
exclusively in Grade 1 events the rest of 2024 and secured year-end honors with
victories in the Kentucky Oaks, the Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks, the
Cotillion at Parx and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar in her last start
Nov. 2. The 1 1/8-mile Distaff marked Thorpedo Anna’s first race against older
horses.

Recharge and Wild Bout Hilary are the only other graded-stakes
winners entered in the Azeri. Recharge won the Houston Ladies Classic (G3) on Jan.
25 at Sam Houston, and Wild Bout Hilary took the Bayakoa (G3) on Feb. 8 at
Oaklawn.

Thorpedo Anna has recorded triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures
in two of her last three starts, according to Daily Racing Form. They
included a career-best 111 in her only loss last year, a runner-up finish
against males in the Travers (G1) on Aug. 24 at Saratoga. Thorpedo Anna was
beaten by a head by Fierceness in the 1 1/4-mile mid-summer derby.

Jody’s Pride with a 95 owns the second-highest, last-out
Beyer. It came in a third-place finish in the $215,000 Inside Information
Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares going seven furlongs Jan. 25 at
Gulfstream Park.

“That’s really the idea to run her (Thorpedo Anna) in this
race, to bring her into the Apple Blossom,” McPeek said. “This is just prepping
her for that. All of her races, there’s a lot of energy around them. She’s had
that since she won the Oaks. It definitely puts you on the edge of your chair,
but that’s fine. That’s where you want to be.”

Thorpedo Anna returned to the track in early January at
Gulfstream Park to begin preparations for her 4-year-old debut. She tuned up
for the Azeri with four published workouts since Feb. 8 at Fair Grounds, where
she drilled five furlongs in 1:00.8 on Saturday.

Thorpedo Anna romped to a four-length victory in the Fantasy
off a similar layoff.

“She is doing very well,” said Brian Hernandez Jr., who has
ridden Thorpedo Anna in all 10 career starts. “(Retired jockey) Robby Albarado
gets on her every morning, and he just keeps saying how well she is doing. She
(was) down here in New Orleans for about a month. I have worked her three times
down here in New Orleans. Her final work was last Saturday by herself. She was
her normal professional self. Worked a really good (five furlongs) and had a
big gallop out all the way around the turn.”

The only previous time Thorpedo Anna broke from the rail was
in the Travers, when she brushed the “near side stall at the start,” according
to footnotes from the official race chart. Hernandez said he’s not concerned
about Saturday’s rail draw.

“We just need to make sure she is ready to leave the gates
in good order and go from there,” Hernandez said.

McPeek said his instructions will be straightforward on a day when it could be wet. The National Weather Service said there is a 50% chance of up to a quarter-inch of rain in the afternoon.

“I’ll tell Brian to just let her run,” McPeek said. “Don’t
get fancy. That’s the way it was in the Oaks. Looks like we might get a sloppy
track. She likes a sloppy track. We’ll leave it with her.”

Free Like a Girl was second, beaten by a head in the
Bayakoa, her 11th attempt to win a graded stakes. The leading Louisiana-bred
money winner in history with $2,173,438, Free Like a Girl finished second to 2023
champion older dirt female Idiomatic in the La Troienne (G1) at 1 1/16 miles in
May at Churchill Downs. Idiomatic was making her 2024 debut in the La
Troienne.

“That’s what everybody’s been asking,” said Chasey Deville
Pomier, who co-owns and trains Free Like a Girl. “I said if I ever want to face
a champion filly like this, it’s definitely the first race off of a layoff. But
I would not want to face her again for sure. She’s a monster. If anything we’re
going to be running for second, but our goal is to get there and be as tough as
we can be.”

Thorpedo Anna arrived late Thursday afternoon at Oaklawn.
She visited the indoor paddock and galloped 1 1/2 miles after the surface
renovation break Friday morning under Albarado, her regular exercise rider and
Oaklawn’s leading jockey in 1996 and 1997.

Albarado said Thorpedo Anna has been “professional” since
returning to Oaklawn. 

“She basically trains herself,” Albarado said. “You don’t
have to make her do anything. She’ll train herself.”

Thorpedo Anna, a Kentucky-bred daughter of the late Fast
Anna, has a 10: 8-2-0 record and earnings of $3,843,663. She races for a
partnership that includes her breeder Judy Hicks, McPeek’s wife Sherri and her Magdalena
Racing and Kentucky attorney Mark Edwards. She was bought for just $40,000 at
the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale.

Post	Silks	Horse / Sire	Rating	Trainer / Jockey	Last start	Morn. line
1		Thorpedo Anna Fast Anna	7.88	Kenny McPeek Brian Hernandez Jr.	1st, 2024 Breeders’ Cup Distaff G1	2-5
Last race		1st, 2024 Breeders’ Cup Distaff G1
2		Alpine Princess Classic Empire	6.60	Brad Cox Cristian Torres	2nd, 2025 Houston Ladies Classic G3	6-1
Last race		2nd, 2025 Houston Ladies Classic G3
3		Jody’s Pride American Pharoah	6.53	Jorge Abreu Ricardo Santana Jr.	3rd, 2025 Inside Information G2	8-1
Last race		3rd, 2025 Inside Information G2
4		Wild Bout Hilary Midnight Lute	6.56	Tanner Tracy C.J. McMahon	1st, 2025 Bayakoa G3	15-1
Last race		1st, 2025 Bayakoa G3
5		Recharge Gun Runner	6.71	Steve Asmussen Keith Asmussen	1st, 2025 Houston Ladies Classic G3	12-1
Last race		1st, 2025 Houston Ladies Classic G3
6		Free Like a Girl El Deal	6.45	Chasey Deville Pomier Julien Leparoux	2nd, 2025 Bayakoa G3	15-1
Last race		2nd, 2025 Bayakoa G3
7		Bow Draw Oxbow	4.45	Henry West Jr. Rocco Bowen	4th, 2025 Pippin	30-1
Last race		4th, 2025 Pippin