Thorpedo Anna Will Face the Boys in Saratoga’s Travers Stakes
Midsummer Classic Will Feature Sensational Filly
Trainer Ken McPeek spectacularly ended the drama on Saturday. Thorpedo Anna’s historic challenge will send the 3-year-old filly against the boys on August 24, 2024. The conditioner of Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna made this decision to make horse racing news in a sport desperate for attention and a superstar.
It’s official! 🏇🏼 Trainer @KennyMcPeek announced on FOX Saratoga Saturday that THORPEDO ANNA is taking on the boys in the Grade 1 DraftKings Travers on Saturday, August 24th at Saratoga! pic.twitter.com/TR8bEGGYdD
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) July 27, 2024
Mystik Dan is off for most of the year if not all of it. Thorpedo Anna could have raced in the Alabama at the Spa. McPeek was logical and focused in deciding to make horse racing news with Thorpedo Anna’s historic challenge.
It will be fascinating to see where horses betting odds are set in the early markets for the Travers.
Filly vs The Boys
Fillies won three of the first five Travers Stakes. The 1867 winner, Ruthless, the second filly to win the Travers, also won the inaugural running of the Belmont Stakes earlier that summer. The last filly to win the Travers was Lady Rotha in 1915. It has been a long, long time.
Thorpedo Anna will look to join Lady Rotha and she should face a strong field that will likely include the 1-2 finishers in Saturday’s Jim Dandy, Fierceness, and Sierra Leone. She was stunning in winning the Coaching Club American Oaks already at Saratoga this meet.
McPeek used logic in the decision. If Thorpedo Anna raced in the Alabama, it would likely be a short field and others would duck facing his wonderful filly. In making this call, he knows if Thorpedo Anna finishes second she would make almost as much money as if she won the Alabama. Thorpedo Anna’s historic challenge is set to be a momentous occasion in horse racing.
If she wins, she would become part of horse racing history, which could be a prelude to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Battles of the Sexes
There have been glamour races that have featured a filly vs. colts. Genuine Risk and Winning Colors won the Kentucky Derby. Rachel Alexandra won the 2009 Woodward at Saratoga. Zenyatta won the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
More important, perhaps, than anything else, Thorpedo Anna’s historic challenge gives horse racing a legitimate story to publicize. This isn’t the annual spews about how great Saratoga or Del Mar are every summer. This is a superstar horse taking on the boys. It should transcend the hardcore fans, who have dwindled through the years, and tread into mainstream.
Now, all Thorpedo Anna has to do is make it into the starting gate on August 24 at Saratoga. And her trainer had a request for fans: Come out dressed in pink. Shirts, dresses, socks, anything to support the great 3-year-old filly and Thorpedo Anna’s historic challenge.
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