Tag: kentucky oaks

Fast Anna’s Thorpedo Anna Stylish in Fantasy Win Off Layoff

'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (f, 3, Fast Anna–Sataves, by Uncle Mo), off since a second Nov. 25 in the GII Golden Rod S., shook off any cobwebs with aplomb to notch a four-length score in the GII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn under a hand ride Saturday. West Omaha (West Coast) and Tapit Jenallie (Tapit), who filled out the trifecta in the reverse order behind Lemon Muffin (Collected)–seventh here–in the Feb. 24 GIII Honeybee S., finished second and third, respectively. The Fantasy is a Kentucky Oaks points race on a 100-50-25-15-10 basis, giving Thorpedo Anna a certain spot in the starting gate the first Friday in May.

Breaking from the outside 12th gate, Thorpedo Anna left her post in razor-sharp fashion to immediately join the first flight. Rider Brian Hernandez, Jr. kept her quiet and on the outside in third as previously unbeaten Recharge (Gun Runner), winner of the Sunland Park Oaks in her stakes debut Feb. 18, and Candy Aisle (Gun Runner), second at in that same race at Sunland, showed the way through :23.45 and :47.90 fractions. Still third on the turn, the Kenny McPeek trainee moved up on the outside with no visual urging, took control with ease long before Hernandez showed her the stick once to keep her mind on business, and left no doubt about the best filly in the race on the day. Her ears pricked, she eased up before the wire with a final time for the 1 1/6 miles of 1:44.24.

The Fantasy marked the fourth win on the card for the duo of McPeek and Hernandez.

McPeek, who has a long list of savvy buys to his credit, picked up Thorpedo Anna for $40,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale. Bred by Judy Hicks in Kentucky, who stayed in on the filly, the ownership team also includes Mark Edwards, Brookdale Racing, and the McPeek family's Magdalena Racing. She is reportedly named for a relative of Edwards who shares the name 'Anna' with the filly's sire and is a swimmer. 'Thorpedo' is a well-known nickname of multiple gold medalist Ian Thorpe, an Australian swimmer who is now retired.

The Fantasy winner debuted at Keeneland last October in a maiden special weight restricted to fillies who sold or RNA'd for $50,000 or less and promptly blew the field away by open daylight. She wowed again just over two weeks later in a Churchill optional allowance, netting her the 'Rising Star' tag. Intricate (Gun Runner), who has since been beaten twice by GI Kentucky Oaks favorite Tarifa (Bernardini), bested Thorpedo Anna in the Golden Rod and is the only horse to finish in front of the dark bay in her four starts. It was soon after the Golden Rod that McPeek indicated Thorpedo Anna needed time off due to a bruise on her hip. She began working again in earnest in February and had posted six works coming into the Fantasy, all at Fair Grounds, including a most recent 1:01 2/5 for five furlongs (17/36) Mar. 23. She is a regular work partner of Mystik Dan (Goldencents), the Feb. 3 GIII Southwest S. winner who was third in the GI Arkansas Derby one race after the Fantasy.

Pedigree Notes:

Thorpedo Anna is the first graded winner for the late Three Chimneys stallion Fast Anna, whose five modest-sized crops have netted 14 black-type winners, all in North America. The son of Medaglia d'Oro, second in the 2014 GI King's Bishop S., was out of 2006's champion 2-year-old filly Dreaming of Anna (Rahy). He lost a battle with laminitis just prior to the 2021 breeding season.

Thorpedo Anna is not the first prominent 3-year-old this season for Uncle Mo as a broodmare sire, as fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Muth (Good Magic), who won the GI Arkansas Derby one race later on the Oaklawn card, is also out of one of his daughters. Uncle Mo, who stands at Coolmore America, has a total of 18 stakes winners as a dam sire. Sataves is unraced, as is her dam, Pacific Sky. However, the latter is a half-sister to GISW Eskendereya (Giant's Causeway) and to English G1SW Balmont (Stravinsky).

Sataves has a 2-year-old Cloud Computing colt named McAfee, who sold to Maddie Mattmiller for $40,000 at Keeneland September, and a Known Agenda filly born Mar. 15 and already named After the Storm.

Saturday, Oaklawn Park
FANTASY S.-GII, $750,000, Oaklawn, 3-30, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.24, ft.
1–THORPEDO ANNA, 118, f, 3, by Fast Anna
                1st Dam: Sataves, by Uncle Mo
                2nd Dam: Pacific Sky, by Stormy Atlantic
                3rd Dam: Aldebaran Light, by Seattle Slew
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($40,000 Ylg
'22 FTKOCT). O-Brookdale Racing, Inc., Mark Edwards, Judy
Hicks, & Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek); B-Judy Hicks (KY);
T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. $393,750.
Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $584,363. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–West Omaha, 122, f, 3, West Coast–Birthday Bash, by
Medaglia d'Oro. O-Gary and Mary West; B-Gary & Mary West
Stables Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $131,250.
3–Tapit Jenallie, 122, f, 3, Tapit–Take Charge Tressa, by War
Front. O/B-Willis Horton Racing LLC (KY); T-Eddie Milligan, Jr.
$65,625.
Margins: 4, 3 1/4, NK. Odds: 2.70, 3.60, 27.20.
Also Ran: All Things Go, Recharge, Ba Dee Yah, Lemon Muffin, My Mane Squeeze, Candy Aisle, In Just My Heels. Scratched: Midshipman's Dance, Where's My Ring. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

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Union Rags’ Power Squeeze Upsets the Gulfstream Park Oaks

The streaking Power Squeeze (Union Rags) punched her ticket to the GI Kentucky Oaks while upsetting heavily favored 'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke) in Saturday's GII Gulfstream Park Oaks.

The Cash Run S. Jan. 1 and Suncoast S. Feb. 10 heroine, off at odds of 11-1 while looking for her fourth straight victory here, stayed out of trouble on the inside while Ways and Means, making her first start since a second-place finish in Saratoga's GI Spinaway S., was bounced around in between rivals and shuffled back on the clubhouse turn.

Traveling nicely in an inside fourth down the backstretch, Power Squeeze was in no hurry as Ways and Means slingshotted her way near the front with a flashy move on the outside beneath Irad Ortiz, Jr. Ways and Means poked her head in front at the top of the stretch and looked well on her way as she kicked for home. Power Squeeze, however, was just getting going. She set her sights on Ways and Means in the stretch and rolled right on by to get the money.

The Gulfstream Park Oaks was worth a total of 200 qualifying points to the top five finishers for the Kentucky Oaks.

“We always thought very highly of her. We never felt like she was [11-1]. We felt like she was 1-1,” winning trainer Jorge Delgado said. “We felt like we had a really good chance. We believed in the filly, and she responded for us.”

He added, “I believe the stretch at Churchill is going to be really good for her. Hopefully everything comes back in order and we're going to plan a trip to go there.”

As for the runner-up, trainer Chad Brown said, “[Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.] said the first turn cost him. It got tight in there, he was bounced around a bit, and he got wide. And then when she saw daylight, she kind of pulled herself up to the front, a little premature move. He said he didn't really want to do that. She ran really well. I think without the layoff, she probably could have encountered some trouble like that and still had enough to go, but she had a lot to do today. And then when you add the trouble in the first turn and the wide trip and all, it maybe took just enough out of her to get caught by the wire.”

Pedigree Notes:

Power Squeeze, a $50,000 KEESEP yearling and $90,000 OBSAPR juvenile, becomes the 16th graded winner for Union Rags. The winner's three-time, stakes-winning dam Callmethesqueeze, a $50,000 purchase by Athens Woods at the 2022 KEENOV sale, is also responsible for a 2-year-old filly by Street Sense and a yearling colt by Liam's Map. She was bred to Vino Rosso for 2024.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
GULFSTREAM PARK OAKS PRESENTED BY FANDUEL TV-GII, $250,000, Gulfstream, 3-30, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.19, ft.
1–POWER SQUEEZE, 122, f, 3, by Union Rags
                1st Dam: Callmethesqueeze (MSW, $324,499),
                                by Awesome Again
                2nd Dam: Mop Squeezer, by Roanoke
                3rd Dam: Honey League Girl, by Honey Jay
   1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($50,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $90,000
2yo '23 OBSAPR). O-Lea Farms, LLC; B-Forging Oaks LLC (KY);
T-Jorge Delgado; J-Daniel Centeno. $148,800. Lifetime Record:
6-4-1-0, $337,450. *1/2 to Call On Mischief (Into Mischief),
SW, $283,237. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Ways and Means, 122, f, 3, Practical Joke–Strong Incentive,
by Warrior's Reward. O/B-Klaravich Stables (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown. $48,000.
3–Into Champagne, 122, f, 3, Into Mischief–Bedford Land, by
Speightstown. ($300,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Six Column
Stables, LLC, Randall Bloch, Jim Gladden, Mike Davis & Michael
Steele; B-Robert & Lawana Low (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes. $24,000.
Margins: 1, 5 3/4, 1. Odds: 11.00, 0.50, 8.20.
Also Ran: Gun Song, Scalable, Do Gooder, America's Vow, Fiona's Magic, Neom City. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

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Kentucky Oaks Future Wager Favorite Impel Pointing for Ashland

Unbeaten Juddmonte homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Impel (Quality Road), favored at 7-1 in last weekend's lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool, is being aimed to make her stakes debut in the GI Central Bank Ashland S. on opening day at Keeneland Apr. 5.

“Brad is saying that he wants to go to the Ashland with her next, which she would have to do and perform well there to get to the Oaks,” Juddmonte USA General Manager Garrett O'Rourke said.

Brad, of course, is two-time GI Kentucky Oaks-winning trainer Brad Cox (Monomoy Girl 2018 & Shedaresthedevil 2020).

“If things don't go right, there's no pressure to keep moving forward,” O'Rourke continued. “If they do go right, well, it sets her up, you know? We'll see what happens.”

Betting on the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager totaled $69,717 ($48,334 in the win pool and $21,384 in exactas). Last year's champion 2-year-old filly Just F Y I (Justify), unraced since capping her perfect season with a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita, closed as the second choice at 8-1. Just F Y I was scratched due to a fever just hours before what was to be her much-anticipated 3-year-old debut for Bill Mott in the GII Davona Dale S. at Gulfstream Mar. 2.

“Obviously, look, I was a little surprised that's the way people bet it,” O'Rourke said. “It puts the pressure on when I saw that she was favored.”

O'Rourke added with a big laugh, “Also, remember, it wasn't a huge pool, so it only would've taken one or two of Brad's exercise boys to just put a few bets on her and ruin the price for the rest of us.”

Impel earned her 'Rising Star' badge with a visually impressive debut victory at a generous 7-2 sprinting at Fair Grounds Jan. 1. She aced her two-turn test with an explosive stalk-and-pounce 8 1/2-length victory in a deep optional claimer going 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park Mar. 3. She earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure in the latter. Impel returned to the worktab with a four-furlong breeze in :49.80 (52/74) at Fair Grounds Mar. 15.

Impel's leading sire Quality Road is responsible for 15 Grade I winners worldwide, including 2017 Kentucky Oaks heroine Abel Tasman. Juddmonte acquired Impel's Claiborne Farm-bred and stakes-winning dam/GII Gallant Bloom H. runner-up Your Love (Flatter) for $480,000 out of the ELiTE consignment on behalf of the late Paul P. Pompa, Jr. and WinStar Farm at the 2019 Keeneland November sale.

Your Love, a half-sister to GSW & MGISP Well Monied (Maria's Mon); GSW & GISP Happy American (Runhappy); MSW & GSP Jimmy Simms (Lost Soldier); and a full-sister to GSW & GISP Economic Model, is also responsible for a yearling filly by Curlin. After losing her pregnancy to Not This Time this year, Your Love recently checked back in foal to the promising young Taylor Made stallion, per O'Rourke. Impel is her first foal.

“She's come along beautifully,” O'Rourke said of Impel. “She's a lovely, big scopey filly. The well-bred ones that look good are the ones that are supposed to be good. It's nice when they are. I guess there was always a doubt in the back of mind about her staying. Her mother was a sprinter and the Quality Roads can go both ways. She was so impressive when she broke her maiden and also when she went the two turns so readily.”

O'Rourke concluded, “But from here on in, she's gonna have to step it up to be confident that she's an Oaks winner.”

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Sierra Leone Favored in Derby Future Wager

Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), winner of the GII Risen Star S., was the 7-1 favorite when Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday evening. Last year's 2-year-old champion Fierceness (City of Light) was second choice at 9-1.

“All Other 3-Year-Olds” closed as the 11-1 third betting option. Japan's G3 Saudi Derby winner Forever Young (Jpn) (Reel Steel {Jpn}) (12-1); GII Rebel S. winner Timberlake (Into Mischief) (12-1); GII Fountain of the Youth S. winner Dornach (Good Magic) (13-1); GIII Gotham S. winner Deterministic (Liam's Map) (16-1); allowance winner Conquest Warrior  (City of Light) (16-1); and GIII Southwest S. winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) (16-1) were next in the open betting pool.

In the lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which was conducted concurrently with the KDFW Pool 5, 'TDN Rising Star' Impel (Quality Road) closed as the 7-1 favorite over champion 2-year-old filly Just F Y I (Justify), who was 8-1.

Betting on all future wagers over the three-day period was $458,269.

Total handle for the KDFW pool was $334,581 ($246,076 in the win pool and $85,506 in exactas). Betting on the Oaks Future Wager totaled $69,717 ($48,334 in the win pool and $21,384 in exactas). The Oaks/Derby Double, which requires bettors to correctly select the winners of both the races, handled $53,971.

Through the first four pools, a total of $1,676,353 has been bet on Derby future wagers, a 16% increase from last year's $1,444,099.

The year's sixth and final Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool runs from Apr. 4 through Apr. 6.

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