SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–On Friday morning, a crowd flocked to trainer Kenny McPeek’s stable in the annex behind the Oklahoma training track to wish him and his three-year-old mare well. Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) as the $1.25 million GI Travers Stakes quickly approached Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

McPeek stood outside his office with his four-legged companion, Sonny, soaking up the positive vibes. A lucky few were even able to secure a pink Thorpedo Anna baseball cap, courtesy of Fasig-Tipton, delivered to McPeek’s stable.

“We’re relaxed,” McPeek said Friday morning. “I’m not nervous. My job is done.”

Thorpedo Anna will attempt to become the first mare to win the Midsummer Derby since 1915. She is also the first mare to take part in the race since Wonder Gadot in 2018, when she finished last.

McPeek is very familiar with the history of fillies in the Travers. He has done some research and knows what a big deal it would be if Thorpedo Anna could do it.

And he won’t take credit for what Thorpedo Anna has done to earn her chance to potentially make history. She has won all four races this year – three of them in Grade I – by a total of 18 3/4 lengths. It’s all her doing.

“She got us here because she was so dominant,” McPeek said. “I didn’t wake up and say, ‘I want to win the Travers with a mare.’ I have a mare that really deserves a chance. She got us here. I didn’t pressure her.”

But here she is. Thorpedo Anna, who will start from the inside track with jockey Brian Hernandez, is the 3-1 co-second choice on the morning line (along with Wildness (City of Light). Among those she will face in the Eight Horse Field are Dornoch (Good Magic), winner of the GI Belmont Stakes and GI Haskell Stakes and Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), who is long overdue to win one of these big races.

“I have no doubt she’ll be competitive,” McPeek said. “I think there’s everything to gain and not much to lose. If she wins, it’s historic. If not, we’ll regroup and take her to Parx and win the (GI) Cotillion.”

Cox says Timberlake should succeed in trying to cut Allen Jerkens

It was during the GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park last month that trainer Brad Cox started thinking about the $500,000 GI Allen Jerkens for his 3-year-old Timberlake (Into Mischief), which will be run at Saratoga on Saturday.

“I found out on the eighth mast of the (1 1/8-mile-long) Haskell,” Cox said in front of his barn on the Oklahoma training range.

After being part of the Triple Crown path – Timberlake dropped out after struggling in the GI Arkansas Derby on March 30 – Cox gave him a rest before tackling a long distance in the Haskell.

The third place in the Haskell race is partly due to the break break.

Cox isn’t convinced Timberlake can’t handle two turns, and before it’s all said and done he could get that chance. For now, though, it’s the seven-furlong Allen Jerkens.

“That was a big challenge in the Haskell when he went a mile and a furlong after that break,” Cox said. “I thought he ran a great race. I’m not going to be too hard on him. Can he win after two rounds? Absolutely. He showed that in the (GII) Rebel.”

Timberlake, owned by Siena Farm LLC and WinStar Farm LLC, will reteam with jockey Florent Geroux, who rode Timberlake in the first five starts of his career, replacing Flavien Prat, who rode Timberlake in the Arkansas Derby and Haskell.

Prat, who could have ridden four horses in the Jerkens, decided Domestic product (Prank) for coach Chad Brown.

Cox is optimistic Timberlake will enjoy the cutback. He has already tried it twice over seven furlongs, winning by 9 1/4 lengths in his first race and then finishing second to the GI Hopeful at the end of the 2023 Saratoga meet.

“That’s something that will benefit him,” Cox said. “I love the horse. It’s a tough race, but I think he’ll run a fantastic race. Maybe a horse will jump up… hopefully it’s him.”

Sarah Andrew

Time out helps Vahva, the favorite with equal chances of winning at Ballerina

The last time Vahva (Gun Runner), a four-year-old mare owned by Cherie DeVaux, ran on June 22 when she won the GIII Chicago at Churchill Downs.

Sixty-three days later, here she is, the even-odds favorite to win Saturday’s $500,000 GI Ballerina tournament at Saratoga.

The time out was intentional.

“Last year we had to give her time to recover from her races,” DeVaux said outside her stable on the backstretch at Saratoga. “Between her starts we let her out for a couple of weeks and then bring her back and just focus on the race we’re going for. She’s done well every time we’ve done that.”

Vahva has won six of 13 starts in her career, finishing second three times and third twice.

Vahva, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., has won five of her seven attempts over seven furlongs, finishing second in the other two.

Five of her last seven starts have been endurance races, all graded stakes, and she has won four of them.

“That seems to be her specialty,” DeVaux said of seven furlongs. “Six of six and a half is too short and a mile could be her thing. For now, we’re leaving her where she’s most effective. She’s just doing her best every run.”

DeVaux also has Cagliostro (Upstart) entered the $500,000 GI Forego. The 4-year-old colt, like Vahva, has won two of three races this year. In his last start, he won the Hanshin Stakes at Churchill Downs by a length.

He is 9-2 on the Forego Morning Line.

Cagliostro shortens the distance to seven furlongs, a distance he has not run since his first career start. That was at Saratoga in 2022, and he finished sixth.

“We just want to see how effective he can be,” DeVaux said. “I think he can handle it. He can handle two turns over a mile. At 1 1/8 miles, I don’t know. He seems to lose his kick toward the end of those races.”