7 days ago
Thorpedo Anna Breezes For Personal Ensign; Kenny McPeek Plots Path To Breeders' Cup For Mystik Dan
Thorpedo Anna Breezes For Personal Ensign; Kenny McPeek Plots Path To Breeders' Cup For Mystik Dan originally appeared on Paulick Report.
Reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna continued her preparations for the $500,000 Personal Ensign (G1) on August 23 as clockers caught her breezing five-eighths in 1:01.80 to the inside of Midnight Concerto on Sunday over Saratoga Race Course's Oklahoma dirt training track.
The pair of Ken McPeek trainees stepped onto the track after the 7:00 a.m. (ET) renovation break, with Luis Rivera Jr. atop Thorpedo Anna and Danny Ramsey on Midnight Concerto. The two came through the lane with Thorpedo Anna holding a short advantage on the inside before Midnight Concerto put her neck in front passing the wire and provided her stablemate with a challenge, which is what McPeek said he was looking for in the work.
'It didn't unfold like we had hoped – the workmate was supposed to be closer to them, but she got the competition to the wire, which is what we wanted,' McPeek said. 'She's done real good here. On the truck up here earlier in the season, she came up on a really hot day and she got a little overheated on the truck, so we gave her a little extra time before we put her in the tack.'
Thorpedo Anna looks to add to an impressive 14-11-2-0 record that includes a sophomore campaign that featured Grade 1 wins last year in the DK Horse Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks, along with top-flight scores in the Kentucky Oaks and Cotillion ahead of a win in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff. Her stellar campaign, which also saw her finish a head second to Fierceness in the DraftKings Travers (G1), was enough to award her the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly.
This year, the 4-year-old Fast Anna filly won the Grade 2 Azeri and Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park en route to an uncharacteristic seventh in the Grade 1 La Troienne, but she rebounded with aplomb last out to take the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on June 28 at Churchill Downs.
McPeek said Thorpedo Anna remains a star at his Saratoga barn, where she greets visitors and fans almost daily.
'She loves being up here. She likes the walk out [to the track] and back up. She's always bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We tend to spoil them, and we let people spoil them,' McPeek said. 'She's got tons of people that adore her and I get calls from people every day who want to see her, 'Can we touch her, pet her, see her?' Yeah, sure.'
A winner of over $5 million in purse money, Thorpedo Anna is campaigned by Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, breeder Judy Hicks, and Sherri McPeek's Magdalena Farm.
McPeek provided an update on 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan, who finished fourth in Saturday's Arlington Million (G1) at Colonial Downs where he made his first start on grass. There, he stalked the pace in second under regular pilot Brian Hernandez Jr. and was in a four-way scramble for the lead at the top of the lane, but flattened out and settled for fourth 3 1/2 lengths back of the victorious Fort Washington.
'I think he ran respectable if you like being fourth, but of course, we wanted to run a little bit better than that,' McPeek said. 'He's been a really good horse and I think he's overachieved all his life. I think it was worth a try and you don't know unless you really put them out there and try them. It looked like at the head of the lane he was going to win, and he had some good horses get past him.'
McPeek said he is unsure what the immediate plans are for the son of Goldencents as he maps out a path to the Breeders' Cup in November at Del Mar.
'We learned something, and I don't think there was any shame in the effort. The hard part now is we've got to figure out where he fits. We've got to figure out where to get him into the Breeders' Cup – is he for the Classic, the Dirt Mile, the Mile? It gives us some options. He came out of the race in good order. I might send him back to Churchill. I'll look at the schedule and see if I can make a decision on his next start before I move him [from Colonial].'
James Ball, Magdalena Racing and Kenneth Rhodes' Take Charge Milady breezed Saturday at Saratoga with an eye to the $600,000 Alabama (G1) presented by Keeneland Sales on Saturday at the Spa, but McPeek said the daughter of Take Charge Indy will not be entered as he was not satisfied with the way she emerged from the work.
'I think I'm going to give her a break,' McPeek said. 'Yesterday's work was OK, but there were some post-workout issues. She didn't eat up good and I'm not going to run her. She's gone all winter, spring and summer, [so] we're going to pull the plug on her and point her to a winter campaign.'
Take Charge Milady was second to La Cara in the Ashland (G1) in April at Keeneland ahead of an off-the-board finish in the Kentucky Oaks, but she rebounded two starts back with a win over Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Immersive in the Monomoy Girl in June at Churchill. She was last seen finishing a distant last-of-4 in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 19 at Saratoga.
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Aug 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
