Shooting Star Thorpedo Anna Retires From Racing

Thorpedo Anna #6 with Brian Hernandez riding won the $1,000,000 Grade I Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in Bensalem, PA on September 21, 2024. Second was Gun Song #7 with John Velazquez. Photo by Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO.

Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO

Johnny made a record, went straight up to number one. Suddenly everyone loved to hear him sing his song. Watching the world go by, surprising it goes so fast, Johnny looked around and said hey I made the big time at last. Don’t you know that you are a shooting star? And all the world love you just as long as you are a shooting star.

Thorpedo Anna does not exactly fit the bill of the subject of that Bad Company song, but we can make a few parallels. The world of Thoroughbred racing features performers that normally don’t stick around a real long time. As fans, we enjoy them while we can because we understand age, injury, and the lure of the breeding shed will take them all too soon. Some of these equine athletes shine much brighter than others, and Thorpedo Anna was absolutely a Haley’s Comet horse.

Trained by Kenny McPeek, this daughter of Fast Anna broke her maiden at first asking by 8 ½ lengths at Keeneland on October 26, 2023. From there, this granddaughter of Uncle Mo won five of her next six starts including the 2024 Kentucky Oaks, Acorn Stakes, and Coaching Club American Oaks, which are all grade 1 races. After losing by a flaring nostril to the boys in the Travers Stakes, she closed the year with wins in the grade 1 Cotillion Stakes and a powerful front-running score in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Those five wins and a second in six starts allowed her to be selected as Horse of the Year for 2024. This year saw Anna thrill her fans with three wins in five starts with two grade 1 victories.

The final start of Thorpedo Anna’s racing career came on October 5 of this year in the grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland. Her flat performance in a fourth-place finish told her loving conditioner this wasn’t the same Grizzly he had seen in previous starts. Caring for her as if she is his daughter, McPeek knew it was time to launch her second career as a broodmare. As is the case with all athletes, the day comes when it is time to hang it up and her veteran trainer would never want to risk injury.

Thorpedo Anna closes her racing career with twelve lifetime wins and two second place finishes in sixteen starts. Her career earnings on the track total $5,440,913 which is astronomical considering she was a $40,000 purchase as a yearling.

Johnny’s life passed him by like a warm summer day, if you listen to the wind you can still hear him play.