McPeek shows the money at July Sale

Has Kenny McPeek found the next Thorpedo Anna?

The trainer of 2024 Kentucky Oaks winner Anna and 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan was active at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale on Tuesday, purchasing a total of eight horses for more than $1.44 million. He was awarded a $25,000 bonus for purchasing the most yearlings at the 2025 sale.

McPeek’s acquisitions included the top filly, Hip 141, for $345,000. The chestnut filly, consigned by Shawhan Place, is the daughter of Vekoma and Sundar.

“She was an exceptional standout,” McPeek told Fasig-Tipton. “She’s a classic-type filly…you know, the Alcibiades, the Ashland, Kentucky Oaks – fingers crossed.”

In 2020, Vekoma won the Grade 1 Met Mile and Grade 1 Carter Handicap, as well as the Sir Shackleton Stakes. He placed 12th in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. He’s the sire of, among others, Adage, Five G, Golden Vekoma, Vixen, and Jonathan’s Way. Sundar was sired by Bernardini, and Hip 141 is her first foal.

Additional McPeek purchases included: 

• Hip 68 (Jack Christopher-Inviting) for $270,000
• Hip 160 (Army Mule-Wall Eye) for $220,000
• Hip 106 (Rock Your World-Private Estate) for $180,000 
• Hip 100 (Practical Joke-Petillante) for $160,000
• Hip 145 (Volatile-Take Charge) for $120,000
• Hip 134 (Rock Your World-Sooie) for $85,000
• Hip 4 (Happy Saver-Planeta) for $65,000

Multiple Grade 1 winner Jack Christopher also sired a colt, Hip 35, that sold for $350,000 to CHC Inc. & Maverick Racing. It was the biggest purchase of the July Sale, which saw a total of 156 yearlings go for $16,828,000. This amount was slightly less than last year’s total of about $17.3 million.

“It was a really solid start to the yearlings sales season,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said in a news release. “It was, as we expected, a very similar yearling marketplace to last year. Trade was solid. If you brought a well-conformed horse here that was athletic, mature, and vetted well, you were rewarded.”

McPeek has developed a reputation for scooping up valuable racehorses at bargain prices. Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, was sold to McPeek for only $20,000 and has thus far earned more than $5 million in her career. Curlin, a two-time Horse of the Year who won the 2007 Preakness Stakes, was found by McPeek and purchased for $57,000, eventually earning more than $10.5 million.

Fasig-Tipton’s next in-person sale will be the 104th Saratoga Sale on Aug. 4 and 5 in the Spa City, followed by the New York Bred Yearlings Sale on Aug. 10 and 11, also in Saratoga.