Reigning HOTY Thorpedo Anna makes Saratoga return in G1 Personal Ensign

While just two of reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna’s 11 wins have come at Saratoga Race Course, the daughter of Fast Anna has become almost synonymous with the Spa as she trains here for much of the year. The now 4-year-old will make her much-anticipated return to Saratoga in the afternoon on Saturday when taking on a robust group of challengers in the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign, a nine-furlong route for older fillies and mares.

The Personal Ensign offers a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff on November 1 at Del Mar.

The Ensign [Race 9] is one of six graded events slated for Saturday’s lucrative 14-race card, headlined by the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers in Race 13. The card will also feature three Grade 1, $500,000 seven-furlong sprints in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial [Race 10], the Resorts World Casino Ballerina [Race 11; a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint] and the Forego [Race 12, a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile], along with the Grade 2, $400,000 Lake Placid in Race 7. First post is 11:10 a.m. Eastern with gates opening to the public at 9 a.m. 

Thorpedo Anna, whose ownership group now includes Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in addition to Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks and Magdalena Racing, makes her fifth start this year for trainer Ken McPeek, entering off a three-length score in Churchill Downs’ nine-furlong Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on June 28. The effort was a rebound performance after a dismal and uncharacteristic seventh-place finish to returning rival Raging Sea in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 La Troienne in May over the Louisville oval.

“It was good,” McPeek said of the Fleur de Lis. “I think the race on Derby week was just a bit of what could go wrong did go wrong, but she’s locked and loaded for this weekend.”

The Fast Anna dark bay kicked her season off in style with wins at Oaklawn Park in the Grade 2 Azeri and Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap in March and April, respectively, picking up where she left off when taking the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar to cap a remarkable sophomore campaign.

The six-win season was highlighted by a four-race win streak comprised of the Grade 2 Fantasy at Oaklawn, and Grade 1 coups in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill and the DK Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks at the Spa. With all female challengers defeated with ease, Thorpedo Anna was tested against male rivals as a rare filly in the Grade 1 DraftKings Travers, where she finished just a head behind 2023 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Fierceness in a memorable showdown at the Spa.

McPeek said he has seen more of the same impressive energy from Thorpedo Anna as she prepares for her return to the Spa.

“She’s ultra-consistent. She loves her work, she’s very happy in Saratoga, and has been for a long time,” McPeek said. “As always, she’s been a pleasure to be around. She’s doing great.”

She went on to win the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Racing ahead of the Breeders’ Cup, where her 2 1/2-length win over Raging Sea cemented not just Champion 3-Year-Old Filly honors, but Horse of the Year as well, the first filly or mare to be given the honor since Havre de Grace in 2011.

McPeek summarized his filly’s chances on Saturday with the famous line he first said last year ahead of the Kentucky Oaks: “They better bring a bear, because I’m bringing a grizzly.”

Brian Hernandez, Jr., aboard for each of Thorpedo Anna’s 14 starts, returns to the irons from post 7.

Thorpedo Anna will face a rematch with Alpha Delta Stables’ Kentucky homebred Raging Sea [post 3, Flavien Prat], one of two contenders for five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown as he also sends out Klaravich Stables’ multiple Grade 1-winner Randomized [post 1, Manny Franco].

Raging Sea, a dual Grade 1-winner in her own right, looks to rebound from a pair of distant third-place finishes, most recently in the Grade 2 Shuvee on July 18 when making a mild bid to pass tiring horses in the stretch and landing 13 1/2 lengths back of returning rival Leslie’s Rose.

“It’s been disappointing – she started off the year terrific in the La Troienne, and her last two starts have been disappointing, so I’m hoping she can get back on track,” Brown said. “Thorpedo Anna is a tough customer, and either of my horses are going to have to run a really top race to beat her.”

Raging Sea won this event last year by a head over Champion Older Mare Idiomatic, her first top-level score after placings as a juvenile in the Alcibiades and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Her stellar 4-year-old campaign also included wins in Keeneland’s Grade 3 Doubledogdare, the Grade 2 Shuvee here and the Grade 2 Beldame at Belmont at the Big A en route to her game runner-up effort to Thorpedo Anna at the Breeders’ Cup.

This year, the chestnut mare returned with aplomb when taking the aforementioned La Troienne in off-the-pace fashion, storming to the lead in mid-stretch and fending off the late rush of Taxed by three-quarter lengths, with Randomized a head behind in third. She followed with a closing third when bumped and squeezed at the start of the nine-furlong Grade 1 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford on June 6 here, won by the reopposing Dorth Vader over sloppy and sealed footing.

Raging Sea boasts a consistent 16-8-2-3 record with over $2.2 million in total purse earnings. She is out of the unraced Storm Cat mare Stormy Welcome, who also produced dual stakes-placed Welcoming. Raging Sea’s second dam is Welcome Surprise, a half-sister to breed-shaping stallion A.P. Indy and multiple Grade 1-winner Summer Squall.

Randomized returned to her best form last out with a three-length score in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher on July 19 at Monmouth Park, setting a pressured pace under Flavien Prat before opening up at the top of the stretch and powering home strongly with her ears pricked at the wire. The effort was awarded a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, her best figure since earning a 99 for her head win in last year’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps over Idiomatic.

“Her getting back in form [was important] – I was worried there momentarily that she maybe had enough at age five, but she’s really picked it up and she came back and trained well,” Brown said.

The win at Monmouth came after a distant fifth in this year’s Ogden Phipps where she was close to the pace through the first quarter-mile but lost position and faded through the latter stages. She returned from a more than eight-month respite in the La Troienne where she set the pace and was caught late by Raging Sea and Taxed.

A six-time winner from 13 starts, Randomized notched her first graded win in the Grade 1 Alabama as a sophomore here, and went on to win the Grade 2 Beldame at Belmont at the Big A ahead of a narrow loss to Idiomatic in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Park. She has banked over $1.7 million in earnings.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher sends out Whisper Hill Farm’s Grade 1-winner Leslie’s Rose [post 6, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], who also enjoyed a reversal of form with a 3 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Shuvee.

The daughter of Into Mischief looks to add a second Grade 1 to her resume after winning the Ashland last April at Keeneland. Since then, she finished off-the-board in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks over a sloppy and sealed surface before a runner-up effort to Thorpedo Anna in the Acorn, and a distant last-of-4 behind her familiar foe in the CCA Oaks.

The bay filly was then away from the races until a neck third in the Grade 3 Vagrancy in May at Belmont at the Big A, but faltered in the Ogden Phipps where she faced sloppy and sealed conditions for the first time since the Oaks and was eased in the stretch.

“Unfortunately she didn’t fire that day on an off racetrack, so she doesn’t care for off conditions,” Pletcher said. “Aside from that, she’s remarkably consistent and is doing very well.”

Leslie’s Rose, a $1.15 million purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the Galileo mare Wildwood Rose, a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Materiality and Grade 2-winner My Miss Sophia. She has banked $743,800 through a 10-4-1-2 record.

“Her resume is awfully strong to begin with, but another Grade 1 would be terrific,” Pletcher said.

The competitive field will also include the winner and runner-up of this year’s Ogden Phipps in John Ropes’ Florida homebred Dorth Vader [post 4, John Velazquez] for trainer George Weaver and Miller Racing’s Dazzling Move [post 2, Jose Ortiz] for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

Dorth Vader notched her first top-level victory with a 4 3/4-length romp in the Phipps, her best prior finish at that level a head second to Pretty Mischievous in the Acorn around one turn in 2023 at Belmont Park. She exited the Phipps to finish a pace-pressing fourth in the Molly Pitcher 3 1/2 lengths back of Randomized.

Dazzling Move set the pace in the Phipps and was collared by Dorth Vader in the lane before keeping on willingly to hold place honors. She enters from a similar pacesetting second to Leslie’s Rose in the Shuvee, finishing 3 3/4 lengths back in her third attempt at Saturday’s distance. She landed her lone graded score in the Grade 3 Royal Delta in February at Gulfstream in her first start for Joseph, Jr.

Rounding out the field is Robert Rosenthal and Bradford Bernstein’s New York homebred Bernietakescharge [post 5, Romero Maragh], who is cross-entered in Friday’s state-bred Yaddo presented by STIHL on turf. Trained by Domenick Schettino, the 4-year-old Take Charge Indy dark bay is 3-for-4 this year, led by dirt stakes wins in the one-mile Heavenly Prize Invitational in February at Aqueduct Racetrack and the state-bred Critical Eye last out on June 4 over course and distance.

A special DraftKings Travers Day edition of Saratoga Live will air on FS2 beginning at noon. FOX Saratoga Saturday will present live coverage and analysis of the DraftKings Travers Day stakes action beginning at 3 p.m. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

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