2025.04.13 Oaklawn Racing Updates

Racing Press Release
Compiled by Robert Yates

Sunday, April 13, 2025

After Thorpedo Anna secured a sixth career Grade 1 victory in the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap Saturday at Oaklawn, her trainer, Kenny McPeek, is already eyeing a seventh. McPeek said Sunday morning that reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna will make her next start in the $1 million La Troienne Stakes (G1) May 2 at Churchill Downs.

“We’ve kind of plotted this all along,” McPeek said. “I knew the spacing. He (jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.) really didn’t have to overwork on her yesterday. She knocked out the (feed) tub in 20 minutes last night. She’s good to go to come back up here.”

McPeek said Thorpedo Anna, a 4-year-old daughter of the late Fast Anna, emerged in good order from her Apple Blossom victory and will “probably” ship Monday to Churchill Downs to prepare for the La Troienne, a 1 1/16-mile event for older fillies and mares.

Thorpedo Anna received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 93 for her 4 ¼-length victory over Free Like a Girl in the Apple Blossom, also a 1 1/16-mile race for older fillies and mares. Thorpedo Anna launched her 2025 campaign with a front-running 3 ½-length victory over Free Like a Girl in the $400,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) March 8 at Oaklawn.

“She’s just workmanlike,” McPeek said. “Goes out there and does her thing – uncomplicated. Just really proud of another good performance by her.”

Thorpedo Anna was a runaway selection for North American Horse of the Year and a unanimous choice for an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly after winning six of seven starts, including five Grade 1 events. She opened 2024 with a four-length victory in the $750,000 Fantasy Stakes (G2) in March at Oaklawn, then won the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) – the country’s biggest prize for 3-year-old fillies – by 4 ¾ lengths in May at Churchill Downs.

Thorpedo Anna raised her career earnings to $4,814,913 with her Apple Blossom victory, her 10th in 12 starts. An eight-time stakes winner, Thorpedo Anna races for her breeder, Judy B. Hicks, Brookdale Racing (Nader Alaali), Mark Edwards and Magdalena Racing (McPeek’s wife, Sherri). Kenny McPeek purchased Thorpedo Anna for just $40,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s 2022 Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.

Mystik Dan to Lake Ouachita

Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is pointing for the $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes for older horses at 1 1/16 miles May 3 at Oaklawn, trainer Kenny McPeek said Sunday morning.

Mystik Dan is seeking his first victory since the 2024 Kentucky Derby, when he edged Sierra Leone by a nose in the first leg of the Triple Crown. Mystik Dan hasn’t started since finishing ninth in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at 1 1/8 miles Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

Following a 30-day break from training, Mystik Dan returned to the work tab March 31 at Oaklawn and has recorded two subsequent local breezes, including a five-furlong move in company Sunday morning under Robby Albarado.

“He’s fit,” co-owner Lance Gasaway said following Sunday’s work. “If you’re off only 30 days, you’re not going to lose a whole lot. I think right now, we’re just looking at this (Lake Ouachita). That’s kind of in his wheelhouse, we think.”

Mystik Dan ran three times last season at Oaklawn (all Kentucky Derby qualifying races), finishing fifth in the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, winning the $800,000 Southwest Stakes and running third in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1). Mystik Dan won the Southwest by eight lengths.

Francisco Arrieta will ride Mystik Dan in the Lake Ouachita because his regular jockey, Brian Hernandez Jr., has commitments May 3 at Churchill Downs, a stakes-packed card headlined by the Kentucky Derby.

The Lake Ouachita falls almost exactly one year after Mystik Dan’s Kentucky Derby victory.

“If something doesn’t happen, that (Lake Ouachita) is the plan,” Gasaway said.

Mystik Dan worked over a fast surface Sunday morning, roughly 20 minutes after the track opened, with stablemate Relampago Verde, who, in his last start, finished seventh in the $175,000 Fair Grounds Stakes for older horses Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds.

Mystik Dan was credited with five furlongs in 1:00.40, which ranked second of 21 times published at the distance. Mystik Dan galloped out 6 furlongs in 1:13.

“Just a little maintenance,” said Albarado, the retired two-time Oaklawn riding champion who has regularly galloped and worked Mystik Dan the last two seasons at Oaklawn. “We try to get him consistently in (12-second furlongs) and it’s easy to fit those times because he’s push button.”

Gasaway co-owns Mystik Dan with fellow Arkansans Brent and Sharilyn Gasaway (4G Racing), Daniel “Banks” Hamby and his brother, Scott Hamby (Valley View Farm). Lance Gasaway, 4G and Banks Hamby also bred Mystik Dan, a 4-year-old son of Goldencents who has a 3-2-1 record from 11 lifetime starts and earnings of $4,211,860.

Quietside Update

Multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Quietside is scheduled to work Friday morning at Keeneland in advance of her scheduled start in the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles May 2 at Churchill Downs, trainer John Ortiz said.

Ortiz said jockey Jose Ortiz will likely breeze Quietside after guiding her to victories in Oaklawn’s $500,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) Feb. 23 and the $750,000 Fantasy Stakes (G2) March 29. Both races were 1 1/16 miles. Ortiz will retain the mount for the Kentucky Oaks, the trainer said.

“Quietside is doing great,” John Ortiz said Saturday morning at Oaklawn. “She shipped up to Keeneland a week and a half ago. Just letting her energy kind of get back underneath her. She’s been campaigned pretty hard so far. We’ve opted to just give her two works going into the Oaks.”

Ortiz said Quietside will have her “normal” five-furlong work Friday, adding he hasn’t decided if her final breeze will be at Keeneland or Churchill Downs. Ortiz said Quietside, a homebred for Arkansas lumberman John Ed Anthony’s Shortleaf Stable, has adapted well to Keeneland after spending the winter and early spring at Oaklawn.

“She loves it up there,” Ortiz said. “She gets lots of grass. It’s quieter. She’s away from all the media for now.”

The Fantasy was the record 40th Oaklawn career stakes victory for Anthony. Thorpedo Anna swept last year’s Fantasy and Kentucky Oaks en route to Horse of the Year honors. The Kentucky Oaks is the country’s biggest race for 3-year-old fillies.

Stakes Tripleheader

Entries were accepted and post positions drawn Sunday for three stakes races April 19 at Oaklawn – $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles, $200,000 Bathhouse Row for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles and the $200,000 Valley of the Vapors for 3-year-old fillies at one mile.

The 12-race card begins at 12:20 p.m. (Central), with probable post time for the Oaklawn Handicap 6:10 p.m. The Oaklawn Handicap is the 11th race. The Oaklawn Handicap drew eight entrants, including 2024 winner Skippylongstocking and Alexander Helios for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen entered Disarm and Red Route One. First Mission represents trainer Brad Cox.Alexander Helios won the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 23 at Oaklawn in his last start. Red Route One, third in last year’s Oaklawn Handicap, won the $500,000 Essex Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles March 22 at Oaklawn in his last start. First Mission won the 2024 Essex.

The Bathhouse Row winner, if Triple Crown nominated, will receive automatic entry into the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, May 17 at Pimlico.

Caldera, runner-up in the $400,000 Sunland Park Derby at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 16 at Sunland Park, is among seven Bathhouse Row entrants. Hymn, a sharp debut winner Feb. 8 at Oaklawn for trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs, is also entered, as is the Cox-trained Instant Replay, third in the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) at 1 3/16 miles March 22 at Fair Grounds.

The Valley of the Vapors drew eight entrants, including Jenkin for trainer Lindsay Schultz and Anonima for trainer Kenny McPeek. Jenkin captured the $175,000 Year’s End Stakes Dec. 29 at Oaklawn. Anonima exits a third-place finish, beaten a length, in the $250,000 Virginia Oaks March 15 at Colonial Downs.

McPeek claimed last year’s Valley of the Vapors with Winnable.

Finish Lines

Oaklawn has added April 24 to its racing calendar, a Thursday date that helps offset the loss of several full cards earlier in the meeting because of weather. Oaklawn’s 2024-2025 season ends May 3. … Trainer Tom Amoss recorded his 99th career Oaklawn victory in Friday’s first race with Koufax ($6.20) for owner Maggi Moss, a longtime client. … Jockey Abel Cedillo, a recent addition to the local riding colony, recorded his first career Oaklawn victory in Friday’s eighth race aboard Gewurztraminer ($7.40) for co-owner/trainer Cipriano Contreras. Cedillo, who is represented by agent Jay Fedor, had previously been based at Turfway Park. Before relocating to the Midwest, Cedillo was a highly successful rider in California. … Jockey Joseph Bealmear, who hasn’t ridden since breaking his collarbone in a March 9 spill at Oaklawn, is named on two horses Friday at Oaklawn. He began getting on horses in the morning earlier this month for his comeback. Bealmear, 20, was Oaklawn’s leading apprentice jockey last season with 19 victories. He has five victories this season. … Unbeaten Nuit Magique, a 4-year-old filly from the final crop of deceased champion Arrogate, will be sidelined 60 days because of a minor leg problem, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said, adding no surgery will be required. Nuit Magique (2 for 2) won her Feb. 8 career debut by eight lengths and an entry-level allowance by a half-length March 8. Both 6-furlong races were at Oaklawn. … Oaklawn will be dark April 20 in observance of Easter.