Thorpedo Anna broke into the world’s Top Ten as she completed a G1 hat-trick at Saratoga on Saturday [July 20] – despite an awkward break in the Coaching Club American Oaks.
With a totally emphatic 4½-length victory over Candied in the $500,000 feature, Thorpedo Anna took her unbeaten record to four for 2024 – at an aggregate margin of 18¾ lengths. And this after a dodgy start as she hopped at the start and hit the gate to break last of four.
Having already landed the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes this year, the daughter of Fast Anna moves up to #9 (from #23, +110pt) on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.
Indeed, not only is Thorpedo Anna clear leader of the US three-year-old fillies’ division, she tops the charts among all US three-year-olds – including her male counterparts.
Which is interesting, as trainer Ken McPeek is now eyeing a crack at the boys in Saratoga’s midsummer highlight, the Travers Stakes, rather than taking the more conventional route of staying against her own sex in the G1 Alabama.
“I’d be sticking my neck out a little bit, but I think the sport could really enjoy seeing a filly take on the colts,” said McPeek, seldom one to duck a challenge.
“Whether it’s Genuine Risk or Winning Colors or Swiss [Skydiver] – I’ll look at the numbers, look at them really hard and try to make an educated decision if I think we can run with them.”
Jockey Brian Hernandez Jnr. (#57 from #66, +25pt), who has ridden Thorpedo Anna in all seven career starts, confirmed that in the end the victory was as comfortable as it looked.
“The last eighth of a mile, it was just her,” he said. “She had her ears up and was looking around at the grandstand.
“I was kinda looking out of the corner of my eye at the infield at the big screen to make sure no one was really making a run at her. She was just kinda playing around and messing with me more than anything.”
Dornoch: ‘I think he’s a champion’
If Thorpedo Anna goes down the Travers route, then one of her chief rivals will surely be the admirable Dornoch #15 (from #71, +190pt), who fought back gamely to hold the challenge of Mindframe in a rousing edition of the $1m Haskell at Monmouth Park, thereby confirming the Belmont Stakes placings.
“I think he’s a champion,” said trainer Danny Gargan (#96 from #159, +45pt). “He’s amazing – by far he’s the best horse I’ve ever trained.
“He keeps getting better with age. He’s figuring things out. He’s determined. Throughout the year we’ll get to see how good he can be. Hopefully, the next five weeks are as good as the last five weeks.”
On the Haskell undercard, champion older filly Idiomatic (from #21, +16pt) showed resilience to match her talent as she just came out on top in a heart-stopping stretch duel with Soul Of An Angel in the G3 Molly Pitcher, while Get Smokin’s success in the G1 United Nations provided the highlight of an across-the-card Graded-stakes treble for trainer Mark Casse (#15 from #20, +82pt), also on the mark at Saratoga and Woodbine.
Across the pond, trainer Karl Burke’s excellent season continued with further Group-race success via Elite Status (at Newbury) and Poet Master (at the Curragh). The trainer is now world #25 (from #29, +65pt), while Sheikh Mohamed Obaid (#8 from #12, +95pt), who owns both winners, has entered the Top Ten for owners.
Highlight of a feature weekend at the Curragh was the Juddmonte Irish Oaks, which went to #300 You Got To Me, the latest in a long line of top fillies trained by Ralph Beckett (#38 from #50, +36pt), who runs well-fancied Bluestocking against males in the King George at Ascot on Saturday.
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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