Thorpedo Anna Seeks Eighth Grade 1 Win in Spinster

Reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna has not raced at Keeneland since her debut in October 2023 when she romped to an 8 1/2-length win in a 7-furlong maiden special weight. The 4-year-old daughter of Fast Anna returns to the Lexington track Oct. 5 for the $650,000 Spinster Stakes (G1), her 10th start in a grade 1 stakes and seeking her eighth win at the highest level. "It is all systems go," trainer Kenny McPeek said. "She loves her work and is training as good as ever. We are staying out of way. We get her fit, get her ready, and then let her do her thing. We are to the point where we don't get nervous when we run her." Already this year, Thorpedo Anna has won four graded stakes out of five starts. Her only disappointment came in the La Troienne Stakes (G1) where she finished seventh after getting bumped repeatedly in the first turn and knocked off stride. She also contested the La Troienne about three weeks after taking the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) by 4 1/4 lengths and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. speculated that she hadn't fully recovered from the race at Oaklawn Park. "She got mugged," McPeek said of the chaos in the first turn during the La Troienne. "She got hit three times. It is unfortunate that is the only blemish on her résumé." But one off day is all the La Troienne has proven to be. Thorpedo Anna bounced back to take the Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs by 3 lengths and then held off a late charge from Dorth Vader to win the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) by a nose at Saratoga Race Course. For her career to date, she has won 12 of 15 starts with 10 of those wins in black-type stakes. With Thorpedo Anna's regular rider Hernandez sidelined due to injuries from a fall Sept. 21, the champion will be ridden by Flavien Prat. The filly is owned by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Magdalena Racing, Mark Edwards, and her breeder Judy Hicks. Among the entrants hoping to dethrone the champion is 3-year-old D. J. Stable homebred Nitrogen. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro had made a name for herself running on the grass, with consecutive wins this year in the Florida Oaks (G3T), Appalachian Stakes (G2T), and Edgewood Stakes (G2T). When the Wonder Again Stakes (G3) got taken off the turf and she won by 17 lengths in the Saratoga slop, trainer Mark Casse began to think he had more options with her. Casse tested those options in the Alabama Stakes (G1) on the main track at Saratoga and was rewarded with a 1 1/2-length win over Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Good Cheer. After the Alabama, D. J. Stables' Leonard and Jon Green with Casse decided to target the Spinster. "We did not want to rush her back into the Cotillion (Stakes), so part this was timing," Casse said. "It is a tall task but her dirt races have been so good, and it is that time of the year that if you are going to go after the big girls, now is the time. She happens to be going after the biggest one." The Spinster also could offer options for the upcoming Breeders' Cup World Championships as a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). The winner gets an all-expenses-paid berth to the Distaff, a $2 million 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares 3 and older. Nitrogen is the only 3-year-old in the Spinster field that includes 4-year-olds Gin Gin, a grade 3 winner, and Chilled, an allowance winner who has been unplaced in her three starts in graded stakes. Looming large in the field is Juddmonte Farms' homebred Scylla, a 5-year-old daughter of Tapit and a three-time grade 1-placed, grade 2 winner. In the 1 1/8-mile Spinster, Scylla will be going two turns for the first time since August 2024, when she ran second in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) at 1 1/16 miles. She's run farther than a mile only three previous times in 2024 but those efforts include winning the Fleur de Lis and Shawnee Stakes (G3) and a third in the Doubledogdare Stakes (G3) at Keeneland. The mare has a win at Keeneland, having won her racing debut there in 2023 by 2 1/2 lengths. Since the Clement Hirsch, Scylla has been tried in graded stakes mostly at 7 furlongs and once at 6 furlongs. She continues knocking on the door with her last three starts all at Saratoga including a second in the Bed o' Roses Stakes (G2), a third in the Honorable Miss Stakes (G2), and a second most recently in the Ballerina Stakes (G1).