The reigning Horse of the Year will run on Keeneland’s opening weekend
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- Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, will race at Keeneland on Sunday.
- Thorpedo Anna will run in the Grade 1, $650,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes.
- Instead of normal jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., Flavien Prat will ride Thorpedo Anna.
Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, is one of the major stars set to compete on opening weekend of the 2025 Fall Meet at Keeneland.
The winner of the 150th Kentucky Oaks in May 2024 at Churchill Downs, Thorpedo Anna earned Horse of the Year honors last year after also collecting wins in the Acorn Stakes, American Oaks, Cotillion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Now, after collecting four more wins in five starts this year, Thorpedo Anna’s next effort will come Sunday evening in Central Kentucky.
The star filly, who is trained by Lexington native Kenny McPeek, is one of five runners in the 70th edition of the Grade 1, $650,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland. The Juddmonte Spinster — for fillies and mares that are at least 3 years old — will go 11/8 miles on Keeneland’s main track.
The race, which has a post time of 5:16 p.m. Sunday, is a “win and in” qualifying race for this year’s Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
McPeek won the Juddmonte Spinster with Take Charge Lady in 2002 and 2003.
The Juddmonte Spinster is one of 11 stakes races that will take place at Keeneland during opening weekend of the Fall Meet, which will also mark the debut of several new features at the track, including a new saddling paddock and East Gate. Those 11 stakes races feature purses that, combined, are worth $6.3 million.
2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna to run at Keeneland
Thorpedo Anna’s success in the 2024 Kentucky Oaks was part of a memorable weekend for the horse and her connections. Her trainer, McPeek, and jockey, Brian Hernandez Jr., also teamed up the next day to win a dramatic 150th running of the Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan.
Hernandez has been Thorpedo Anna’s jockey for each of her 15 starts and all 12 of her wins. But, Hernandez won’t be aboard the reigning Horse of the Year on Sunday.
That’s because Hernandez is recovering from serious injuries that he suffered during a recent spill at Churchill Downs. Hernandez is dealing with fractured ribs, a punctured lung, a lacerated liver and internal bleeding as a result of that incident.
Hernandez, who’s tentatively expected to be out six to eight weeks, will miss the Fall Meet at Keeneland. In his place, McPeek has given Thorpedo Anna’s mount to Flavien Prat.
Sunday will be Thorpedo Anna’s second race at Keeneland. She won her debut at the Lexington track during the 2023 Fall Meet in a maiden special weight race.
Thorpedo Anna arrived at Keeneland from McPeek’s base at Churchill Downs on Thursday afternoon. The 4-year-old filly is the first reigning Horse of the Year to race at Keeneland since Wise Dan more than a decade ago.
Prat, a 33-year-old Frenchman with two Triple Crown race wins, is also expected to be Thorpedo Anna’s rider if the horse makes the gate for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 1 at Del Mar in California. Thorpedo Anna is aiming to become the first horse since Royal Delta in 2011-12 to win consecutive runnings of the Distaff, which pits the best female dirt horses against one another in a 11/8-mile race.
Thorpedo Anna’s top rival in the Juddmonte Spinster figures to be Nitrogen, a Mark Casse trainee who has finished in the money in all 10 of her career starts. Nitrogen has already won five graded stakes this year, including the Florida Oaks in March at Tampa Bay Downs, the Appalachian Stakes in April during the Keeneland Spring Meet and the Alabama Stakes in August at Saratoga.
Sunday will mark Nitrogen’s first start against older horses. Nitrogen will be ridden by Jose Ortiz.
Also in the field for Sunday’s Juddmonte Spinster are Chilled (trained by Vicki Oliver and to be ridden by John Velazquez), Scylla (trained by Bill Mott and to be ridden by Junior Alvarado) and Gin Gin (trained by Brendan Walsh and to be ridden by Luis Saez).
Chilled is without a win in five career starts at Keeneland. Scylla won her racing debut in April 2023 at Keeneland. Gin Gin ran 12th out of 14 horses in the same Kentucky Oaks that Thorpedo Anna won in 2024.
Chilled will leave from post position No. 1 in the Juddmonte Spinster, with Scylla to her outside, followed by Nitrogen, Gin Gin and Thorpedo Anna, who is the 8-5 favorite on the morning line.
Notably, trainer Brad Cox doesn’t have a runner in this year’s Juddmonte Spinster. Cox’s Idiomatic won the race with Florent Geroux aboard in both 2023 and 2024.
This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
