Zipse: When will star filly Thorpedo Anna test the boys?

Oozing with confidence in his star filly, trainer Kenny McPeek gave strong consideration to running Thorpedo Anna against the boys in the $2 million Belmont Stakes. After what we saw on Friday and Saturday at Saratoga, it’s plain to see why her trainer was bullish on the idea.

In Friday’s Grade 1 Acorn Stakes, a confident Brian Hernandez Jr., who has ridden the filly in all of her races, only had to get his mount in good position from the far outside post position. From there, the immensely talented Thorpedo Anna would do the rest. Making shambles of a field full of graded-stakes fillies, the daughter of Fast Anna barely turned a hair in cruising home a 5 1/2-length winner.

One day later, we saw Dornoch become the third colt to win a 2024 Triple Crown series race when he gamely held off Mindframe and Sierra Leone in the Belmont Stakes. Joining Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey as long-shot winners, it’s apparent that there is no standout among the 3-year-old males.

There were good reasons not to run Thorpedo Anna in the Belmont. A steep $500,000 supplemental fee just to enter is generally a poor investment. Her Kentucky Derby winning stablemate Mystik Dan also made it easier to keep her away from the boys … for now.

With two easy wins and a second in three starts in 2023, the dark bay out of the Uncle Mo mare Sataves was a very promising filly. This year, she has turned that promise into something special.

In each of her three starts this season, beginning with the Fantasy Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn on March 30, and including the important Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs on May 3, Thorpedo Anna has been dominant. Friday’s Acorn at Saratoga was more of the same.

Dominance can be a subjective term in horse racing. In this case, the nation’s best 3-year-old filly has made it look all too easy while beating good fillies in big races.

Now the winner of 5-of-6 starts lifetime with over $1.7 million in the bank, it’s easy to imagine her lining up against the boys sooner rather than later.

The precedent has been set many times in my years of following Thoroughbred racing. Top fillies such as Genuine Risk, Winning Colors and Rachel Alexandra were not afraid to test the boys early and often in their stellar sophomore campaigns.

Rags to Riches tried only once, but beating Curlin in the 2007 Belmont Stakes made it a most memorable attempt. More recently there was Swiss Skydiver, who ran the race of her life when she edged Authentic in the October Preakness Stakes of 2020.

Swiss Skydiver is the filly most closely aligned to Thorpedo Anna because of McPeek. The champion 3-year-old filly of four seasons ago is proof that the veteran trainer has no fear in running against males. She tried the boys three times, finishing second in the Blue Grass (G2) in 2020 and fourth in the Whitney (G1) the following year.

It needs to be noted that while all five fillies mentioned above found major success against the males as 3-year-olds, none were as successful the following year. The hickory pair of Shuvee and Serena’s Song probably are the best example of dirt fillies of my lifetime successfully taking on the boys in multiple seasons without tailing off as older mares.

So what’s in store for Thorpedo Anna? Based at Saratoga for the rest of the spring and most of summer, it’s likely that she will continue to race there as well. That likely would mean the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) for fillies is the preferred spot over the $1 million Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park against the boys.

Both races are at nine furlongs and on Saturday, July 20, which would give her a nice six-week gap between her Acorn success and her next race. This assumes that she has no lingering problems from throwing a shoe in Friday’s big win.

If it is the Coaching Club American Oaks, look for Ways and Means and Candied to be among her top competition. Both of them passed on the Acorn but looked good in winning lesser races at Saratoga and Monmouth, respectively.

If McPeek and the ownership team of Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Judy B. Hicks and Magdalena Racing decide to take on the boys in her next start, 2-year-old champion Fierceness probably would be waiting for her in the Haskell.

Given the serious consideration of running her in the Belmont Stakes, it would seem that the idea of running her in the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) is the most likely spot for Thorpedo Anna’s first try against the males.

The Travers will have no huge supplemental fee to worry about, and after the Belmont, I would be willing to bet that Mystik Dan has earned a rest.

Five weeks after both the Coaching Club American Oaks and Haskell, on Aug. 24, the historic 10-furlong test is shaping up to be a Saratoga classic. Not only would this year’s Travers look to bring some semblance to a wide-open 3-year-old male division, but it also could include the European champion City of Troy.

There is a reason that no filly has won the Travers since Lady Rotha did it way back in 1915, and it would not be easy for Thorpedo Anna in 2024.

If she wins the Coaching Club American Oaks in July like she has her first three races of this year, however, I will not bet against her making history this summer at the Spa.