Thorpedo Anna

About the only thing missing from Saturday's $1-million GI Stephen Foster Stakes is a Horse of the Year--for good measure, she runs elsewhere on Saturday's blockbuster program on the final weekend of racing at Churchill Downs--but the nine-furlong event is rich in quality and brings together the winners of such prestigious events such as the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, the GI Kentucky Derby, and the G1 Dubai World Cup. A 'bananas' Foster, indeed. The horses that will line up for the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for this year's Classic...

It will be a hugely important weekend for trainer Kenny McPeek as Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will be in action Saturday at Churchill Downs. Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna will be heavy favorite in the GII Fleur De Lis Stakes, while 2024 GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan faces a tough assignment in a loaded GI Stephen Foster Stakes. To talk about the two biggest stars in his barn, his hiring of Jimmy Jerkens and even his new tattoo, McPeek was the Gainesway Guest of...

It will be a hugely important weekend for trainer Kenny McPeek as Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will be in action Saturday at Churchill Downs. Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna will be heavy favorite in the GII Fleur De Lis while 2024 GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan faces a tough assignment in a loaded GI Stephen Foster Stakes. To talk about the two biggest stars in his barn, his hiring of Jimmy Jerkens and even his new tattoo, McPeek was the Gainseway Guest of the...

GI Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will square off against old foe, GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner, and 'TDN Rising Star Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), plus G1 Dubai World Cup champ Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) and GISW sprinter and 'TDN Rising Star' Mindframe (Constitution) in next Saturday's 44th running of the $1-million GI Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs, which is a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic. The last time Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone faced one another was in the 2024...

Reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) breezed a half-mile in a sharp :47.80 (13/90) Friday morning at Churchill Downs in advance of her intended appearance in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fleur de Lis Stakes on June 28. The Fleur de Lis is one of a half-dozen stakes on a program that is headed by the $1-million GI Stephen Foster Stakes. Thorpedo Anna, a troubled seventh in the GI Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes May 2, took to the track around 7:15 a.m. Friday morning and covered her opening quarter-mile...

While no immediate plans for the GI Belmont Stakes have been made for Saturday's sensational Preakness 150 hero Journalism (Curlin), connections report that when their colt leaves the Pimlico grounds in a couple days, he will either go directly to Saratoga or to Michael McCarthy's Kentucky base at Churchill Downs. With the son of Curlin under consideration for the GI Belmont Stakes June 7 at Saratoga, McCarthy and Eclipse Thoroughbreds' Aron Wellman spoke to the press Sunday morning and said the decision will be made in the next day or...

Closing relentlessly after a slow start, Hill Road (Quality Road) ran down the Rick Dutrow Jr. pair on the lead to win the GIII Peter Pan Stakes and stamp his ticket for a date with the final jewel of the Triple Crown in June. First profiled by our colleagues in TDN Europe after a sparkling debut in Ireland for trainer Adrian Murray last year, which snagged him 'TDN Rising Star' honors, the connections stepped him up into elite company in mid-September when his next start came in the G1 Vincent...

Hong Kong's star sprinter Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) has moved up the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings to sit in a joint second at 126, after the latest round of rankings were released on Thursday. Now a winner of 12-straight after his victory in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize, he shares that mark with fellow Hong Kong wunderkind Romantic Warrior (Acclamation). Japan's Forever Young (Real Steel) remains the leader at 127. After the first Classics of the season, G1 2000 Guineas hero Ruling Court (Justify) is among the top 10...

In an effort to find out why 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) ran so poorly in the GI Fasig-Tipton La Troienne S. Friday at Churchill Downs, trainer Kenny McPeek sent her to be examined by Dr. Larry Bramlage at the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. Thorpedo Anna finished seventh and last. Coming into the race she had never been worse than second. According to McPeek, Bramlage could not find anything wrong with the 4-year-old filly. "At this point, she has a clean bill of health," McPeek...

Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), who finished seventh in Friday's GI La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs, moved fine the next morning and will be given ample time off, according to a post on X by her trainer Kenny McPeek. "Thorpedo Anna walked well this morning," McPeek wrote. "We are going to X-ray her ankles and knees then send her to Rood and Riddle for Dr Larry Bramlage to examine her. The first turn incident may have thrown her off her game, or maybe the three week...

In a race many thought was for second-place, it was Raging Sea (Curlin--Stormy Welcome, by Storm Cat) who stepped up to play the spoiler in her 2025 bow and claim the GI La Troienne Stakes as the 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) faded to last in the lane. Content to watch the action unfold in fifth as her stablemate Randomized (Nyquist) went loose on the lead by way of traffic behind her, Raging Sea was spared a lot of the inside drama when Dorth Vader (Girvin)...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After last year's Breeders' Cup, it wouldn't have come as much of a surprise to see an unbeaten, Godolphin homebred trained by Brad Cox bringing a perfect record into the GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. But with last year's champion 2-year-old filly Immersive (Nyquist) unraced since capping her brilliant four-for-four season in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies--she's recently returned to training--it will instead be her unbeaten stablemate Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) that will be in the spotlight for those same connections on the first Friday...