Photo:

Shamela Hanley / Eclipse Sportswire

On cruise control from start to finish in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Thorpedo Anna placed an exclamation point at the completion of her historic sophomore season with an easy 2 1/2-length score over Raging Sea.

The victory all but cinched the 2024 horse-of-the-year title for the daughter of Fast Anna as Fierceness, her main rival for the honor, finished second to Sierra Leone two races later in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

If the Kenny McPeek-trained Thorpedo Anna indeed takes home multiple Eclipse Awards in January, she would join Rachel Alexandra as only the second 3-year-old filly in the last 79 seasons to be named horse of the year.

Brian Hernandez Jr., who has ridden her in each of her 10 lifetime starts, knew that getting the star filly out of the gate smoothly would be enough to control the race. When that goal was accomplished, it was all Thorpedo Anna in a contest weakened by the defections of Idiomatic and Awesome Result.

It’s not supposed to be this easy in facing older horses for the first time, and Raging Sea had come into the nine-furlong test having won three straight graded stakes in New York, including a Grade 1 score over Idiomatic in the Personal Ensign at Saratoga. The 4-year-old Chad Brown charge could only chase in vain, however, as Thorpedo Anna freewheeled it every step of the way.

Making it look so simple on the big stage of the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar is nothing new to the soon-to-be champion. It was six months ago when the dark bay raced into national spotlight by dominating the Kentucky Oaks (G1) one day before her stablemate Mystik Dan completed a rare double for McPeek by winning the Kentucky Derby.

That important victory at Churchill Downs was very similar to what we saw on Saturday at Del Mar. One was on a sloppy track in the rain at Kentucky, and the other was on a picture-perfect day on the California Coast. But in both of her biggest career victories, Thorpedo Anna took over the race from the outset before cruising to the wire.

Not that she needs to be on the lead. It was just over one year ago when Thorpedo Anna was unveiled to the world. McPeek sent her out going seven furlongs at Keeneland against fellow maidens and watched her come from well off the pace before sweeping to an 8 1/2-length runaway victory.

Her veteran trainer is a big part of the story. Having first gained national attention 29 years ago when his bargain purchase Tejano Run ran second in the 1995 Kentucky Derby early in what turned out to be an excellent racing career.

Decades later, the Arkansas-born conditioner is still finding bargains at the sales. At 62, he also is having the season of his career. Of course, Mystik Dan winning the Kentucky Derby is a big part of that, but it was Thorpedo Anna who gave McPeek his first Breeders’ Cup victory after he’d had a number of in-the-money finishes.

McPeek picked her out at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale of 2022, paying a bargain of $40,000 for the yearling filly. Out of the unraced Uncle Mo mare Sataves, she was bred in Kentucky by Judy Hicks.

Hicks thanked McPeek for the purchase and told the trainer that she really liked the young horse. The trainer agreed to let Hicks keep a share, and together they remain part of the ownership of the superstar.

Winning the Kentucky Oaks in her fifth career start and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in her 10th were her two most important wins to date, but her extended stay in upstate New York at Saratoga was a crucial component of her amazing season.

Not everything went her way in either the Acorn Stakes or the Coaching Club American Oaks, but in both Grade 1 races at the Spa, Thorpedo Anna was able to handle her competition with ease. So impressive were those wins in June and July that McPeek and team were ready to really test her.

Reminiscent of the great Zenyatta narrowly missing behind the champion Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic, Thorpedo Anna ran so well against the best colts in the country in this summer’s Travers Stakes (G1) that her reputation only grew after the tough defeat.

That lone loss of 2024 in the Travers was about as good a horse can do without winning. It was certainly flattered when both the winner, Fierceness, and the third-place finisher, Sierra Leone came back to run so well in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

In a performance that likely will thrust him ahead in the race for the 3-year-old male champion, Sierra Leone finally got a fast pace to run at and powered home to an impressive victory at Del Mar. Pressing fast fractions all the way, Fierceness ran huge in the Classic, and the second-place finish is further proof that the champion is pure class.

As good as Sierra Leone and Fierceness were, however, Thorpedo Anna was the one who put a cherry on top of a season to be remembered.

With six wins in 2024, including the Fantasy Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park and the Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx, Thorpedo Anna stands alone in the horse-of-the-year race.

She fell a diminishing head shy in the Travers, missing out on a 7-for-7 season. Her five Grade 1 wins are more than the combined total of Sierra Leone and Fierceness, who have two each. At a top level every time out from March through November, no other horse this year can compare with her consistent excellence.

Thorpedo Anna also captured the hearts and imagination of racing fans around the world. With plans to bring her back next year at 4, her popularity could reach new heights in 2025. Until then, all her fans can rejoice at the season she has put together.

Thorpedo Anna is the horse of the year.