HOT SPRINGS -- The last filly to enter the starting gate crossed the finish line first in the 52nd Fantasy Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
Thorpedo Anna, punctual Saturday when it mattered most, won the Grade II $750,000 race for 3-year-old fillies by four lengths with a stalking trip from post 10.
With 100 Kentucky Derby Oaks qualifying points, trainer Ken McPeek will look for a better outcome May 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., than with 2020 Fantasy winner Swiss Skydiver, who won the Preakness after losing in the Oaks.
Brian Hernandez Jr. posted the fourth victory on the card for himself and McPeek, who lists Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith as his birthplace. The four-bagger duplicated his performance on the Dec. 31, 2022, during all juvenile card at Oaklawn, where McPeek sends his young horses after training them in Kentucky.
"When we got into the paddock, Kenny told me, 'You know what you have underneath you. She's the fastest filly in the race, so just ride her with confidence.' " Hernandez said. "The biggest thing I was worried about was just being in the [10] hole – her not breaking or breaking out.
"When she broke cleanly, I was like, 'OK, now we're in a good spot.' She settled right off those horses down the backside and we were locked and loaded the whole way."
Said McPeek: "She was loaded. She was ready to run. Even at feed time yesterday, she was on her toes. ... Will definitely have to school her at Churchill. ... She's a serious [Oaks] contender."
A $40,000 yearling purchase in October 2022, Thorpedo Anna (by Fast Anna) won her first two starts by a combined 17 1/2 lengths at Churchill Downs before running fifth when favored in the Grade II Golden Rod on Nov. 25. McPeek sent her to Oaklawn after a series of workouts over the long Fair Grounds stretch.
West Omaha, a troubled third in the Grade III Honeybee at Oaklawn on Feb. 24, finished second by 3 1/4 lengths on trainer Brad Cox's 44th birthday. Tapit Jenallie, second in the Honeybee, ran third. All Things Go completed the superfecta with fifth-place finisher Recharge also earning Oaks points.
Honeybee winner Lemon Muffin, 5-1 after 28-1 in his last-out maiden victory, was seventh of 10, keeping Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas winless in the Fantasy. Mike Maker-trained My Mane Squeeze ran eighth, unable to replicate her New York stakes-winning form of the winter months.
Thorpedo Anna paid $7.40, $4.40 and $3.80 after a fast-rated 1 1/16 miles in 1;44.24. Listed owners of the Kentucky-bred filly, a Jan.28 foal, include Magdalena Racing of the trainer's wife, Sherri.
West Omaha paid $4.20 and $3.80, while Tapit Janellie returned $8.80.