June 28 at Churchill Downs could be redemption day for 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in the $500,000 Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2).
There was nothing but silence following the star filly's humbling defeat in the May 2 La Troienne Stakes (G1) on Kentucky Oaks day. The darling of American racing for the last year had turned in her worst performance—the first time she had not been first or second in 13 starts—and the uncharacteristic last-place finish raised a myriad of questions that even trainer Kenny McPeek wasn't sure he could answer in full confidence.
"The first turn incident may have thrown her off her game, or maybe the three-week turnaround wasn't my best choice," McPeek told Thorpedo Anna's legion of fans through social media. "She showed no signs she couldn't handle that. I'm more critical of myself than anyone."
It's true, the La Troienne was only 20 days removed from Thorpedo Anna's victory in Oaklawn Park's Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), and the filly did get bumped and squeezed into the run for the first turn. However, the connections of Thorpedo Anna would take no chances, and the 4-year-old was sent to world-renowned equine veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage for a thorough evaluation.
Bramlage gave Thorpedo Anna a clean bill of health from his Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, and the filly returned to McPeek's barn, prepared to start anew. A couple of weeks after the La Troienne, the 4-year-old daughter of Fast Anna returned to the work tab with vengeance for McPeek. In her penultimate breeze ahead of the Fleur de Lis, she fired off a bullet five-eighths in :59 3/5 June 14 with regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. in the irons.
The filly known as "The Grizzly" was back. Now she she has to bring that same energy on race day.
"She's gone back to the track and acts like her old self," McPeek said in a podcast interview for Horse Races Now, a horse information platform co-founded by the trainer 13 years ago. "It was one of those races that just wasn't our day. You know we're big boys. We just have to get back off the mat and get back up and do it again."
Owned in partnership by Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Sherri McPeek's Magdalena Racing, and breeder Judy Hicks, Thorpedo Anna will make the fourth start of her 2025 campaign against a small field of four other fillies and mares in the Fleur de Lis. She will tote the high weight of 124 pounds in the 1 1/8-mile contest, a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In event for the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar.
Hernandez, the filly's passenger throughout her historic 2024 campaign and the only jockey to ride her, has the mount.
Richard Bahde's Taxed, a consistent player over the past few years, was one of Thorpedo Anna's conquerors on Oaks day, finishing second. The Randy Morse-trained millionaire rallied at 31-1 odds in La Troienne, coming up only three-quarters of a length short of catching multiple grade 1 winner Raging Sea. Taxed, a 5-year-old daughter of Collected , was third in last year's Fleur de Lis and sports a 2-1-3 record from eight main-track outings at Churchill Downs.
Royal Spa and Gin Gin, the 1-2 finishers, respectively, of Churchill's Shawnee Stakes (G3) May 31, return while Save Time returns to stakes company after scoring in a first-level allowance at the Louisville, Ky., oval May 11 for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
Churchill Downs, Saturday, June 28, 2025, Race 7Entries: Fasig-Tipton Fleur de Lis S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Royal Spa (KY) Flavien Prat 121 Rodolphe Brisset 4/1 2 2Save Time (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 119 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 20/1 3 3Thorpedo Anna (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 124 Kenneth G. McPeek 3/5 4 4Gin Gin (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 121 Brendan P. Walsh 7/2 5 5Taxed (KY) Rafael Bejarano 119 Randy L. Morse 9/2
