Thorpedo Anna digs deep for a win in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign

Reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna got the job done in Saturday’s Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga Race Course—but it was tougher than some may have expected.

Affectionately known as the “Grizzly,” Thorpedo Anna faced one of the toughest races she’s ever had to run against both a field of talented fillies and against the naysayers. 

Racing fans were quick to dismiss the Kenny McPeek trainee after her head-scratching performance in the Grade 1 La Troienne where she finished last. After receiving a clean bill of health by Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, Thorpedo Anna rebounded with a win in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis. Still, there were doubts that she wasn’t the same filly she was when she dominated the distaff division in 2024.

This time last year, Thorpedo Anna ran the race of her life against the boys in the Grade 1 Travers. Despite the gritty effort, she came up short by a head against one of the top three-year-old males at the time, Fierceness. 

That race eerily mimicked the one that played out Saturday though this time, Thorpedo Anna came out on top.

As expected, multiple Grade 1 winner Randomized set out for the early lead. In the races they’ve run together, Randomized and Raging Sea often worked as a team to deliver a win for the Chad Brown barn just as they did in last year’s edition of the race. That didn’t work out the same this year as Thorpedo Anna easily took over the lead from Randomized at the top of the stretch and Raging Sea could only rally for fourth nearly twenty lengths behind the winner.

The horse that gave the Grizzly the most trouble was this year’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps winner, Dorth Vader. The George Weaver trainee looked as though she would blow by Thorpedo Anna at the top of the stretch but the latter would continue to find more and dig deeper all the way to the wire. 

The final margin of victory was a nose.

McPeek stated that Thorpedo Anna will be nominated to the Grade 3 Delaware Handicap on Sept. 28 at Delaware Park and the Grade 1 Spinster on Oct. 5 at Keeneland. The Delaware Handicap was moved to September in 2025 after typically being run in July. 

The target remains to be a repeat in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

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