SARATOGA SPRINGS — A minor hiccup occurred, but it was so insignificant that it was barely noticeable.
On a bright Saturday morning, the filly Thorpedo Anna had a breezy run on the main track at Saratoga Race Course. This was her final serious workout before the upcoming Travers on Saturday. As she came off the grandstand turn, a third horse was spotted galloping along the rail.
Jockey Julien Leparoux had to slightly steer Elko County away from the rail to avoid the horse, but both Elko County and Thorpedo Anna continued their run undeterred. Thorpedo Anna completed five furlongs on schedule in 59.81 seconds.
Although the run didn’t go exactly as planned, the outcome was as expected.
Trainer Kenny McPeek was not bothered by the minor glitch. He was satisfied with what was a routine final prep with regular exercise rider Danny Ramsey. This was in preparation for Thorpedo Anna’s challenge against males in the $1.25 million Travers.
“He didn’t push her too hard. You don’t want to exhaust her in a workout like that. It was a nice maintenance, what I call ‘twelves,’” McPeek said, referring to the steady 12-second splits for each furlong. “Just keep it steady and leave the rest to her on the gallop-out, and she galloped out way in front, so it was good.”
McPeek chose Elko County as Thorpedo Anna’s workmate partly because he was due for a solid breeze, and he got one, against a three-time Grade I winner who is 4-for-4 this year.
“It’s a bit tricky. It depends on race dates for the other horses and timing,” he said. “We had some others that we probably could’ve paired her with, but they already had workmates scheduled, too. That’s part of the art of training decisions.
“You try to match them evenly. We knew going in that was a tough workmate for him. He’s a good staying-type horse. He did fine.”
McPeek said he wasn’t aiming for a particularly fast workout from Thorpedo Anna, just a consistently paced one with another horse.
Nevertheless, her published time was the second-fastest of 26 five-furlong breezes on the main track on Saturday.
“She’s getting closer to a race and she hasn’t run in six weeks,” he said. “She needs something to keep her engaged. She keeps herself pretty strong and gallops out there like a beast.”
Other Travers prospects who breezed on the main track were Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch, Jim Dandy winner Fierceness and Curlin winner Unmatched Wisdom.
Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone and Honor Marie breezed on the Oklahoma training track.
Exercise rider Priscilla Schaefer rode Dornoch, who worked in company with the filly Ringy Dingy, a full sister to two-time Grade I winner Defunded, in 47.65, the 14th fastest four-furlong breeze on Saturday.
“It was a routine work here,” trainer Danny Gargan said. “We were aiming for 48, we got 47 and 3 [tenths], so that’s pretty close. It’s splitting hairs. Carol [Fisher] led the way on Ringy Dingy, and Priscilla sat right next to her. They both looked good at the wire. Both of them had a lot of energy, and I’m pleased with it.
“Ringy Dingy has outworked him two or three times. She’s a good work horse. She outworked him as a 2-year-old out of the gate. He got her in the end, but she’s a really good work horse.
Exercise rider Danny Wright rode Fierceness, who breezed four furlongs in 48.22 seconds in company with 2023 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Bright Future.
“Perfect. I’m super happy with it,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “I thought he went well, finished up strongly, galloped out great, seemingly effortlessly.”
The undefeated but lightly raced Unmatched Wisdom covered five furlongs in 1:00.41.
“It was a beautiful work, just what we were looking for,” trainer Chad Brown said. “At eight days out, it was perfect. I wanted a bit of a stronger work for this horse because he lacks some of the overall conditioning of my other horse in the race [Sierra Leone], who has run a lot more and is very fit. I loved what I saw.”
Brown said Sierra Leone continued his string of consistently flawless breezes out of a second-place finish by a length behind Fierceness in the Jim Dandy. He breezed four furlongs in 49.20.
Trainer Bill Mott said Jim Dandy third-place finisher Batten Down, who worked five furlongs in 1:01.85 in company, put together a solid final breeze.
Honor Marie, who finished off the board in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont, covered four furlongs in 50.50 seconds on the Oklahoma. “We didn’t need to do a lot,” trainer Whit Beckman said.
Disagree – Thorpedo Anna is a strong competitor, setbacks happen to all athletes, looking forward to seeing her perform in the Travers.
Disagree – Minor setback won’t affect Thorpedo Anna’s performance in the Travers. Excited to see her in action!
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