DEL MAR, Calif. – A race initially billed as a two-horse showdown between a champion mare and an outstanding young filly, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Distaff storyline shifted. It might be a one-horse coronation. Thorpedo Anna, whose Kentucky Oaks was the first of four Grade 1 wins, enters the $2 million BC Distaff as the most heavily favored runner Saturday at Del Mar. It was not supposed to look this easy, but Idiomatic, 2023 champion older female and early Distaff favorite, was injured and retired last week. “It would have made for maybe a more interesting race” with Idiomatic, Thorpedo Anna’s trainer, Kenny McPeek, acknowledged. “But it still might be a very interesting race.” It depends on Thorpedo Anna, the likely pacesetter in a 1 1/8-mile Distaff otherwise light on speed. Thorpedo Anna drew post 2 and figures to employ the same up-front strategy she used in the Kentucky Oaks. McPeek could give jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. similar instructions. “In the Kentucky Oaks she was kind of inside-drawn, too,” McPeek said. “I told [Hernandez], ‘The speed in here can’t run with you. Get it over with. Get her out there and let her roll.’ On a sloppy [Churchill Downs] track, you don’t want any adversity. I don’t want any Saturday either.” Thorpedo Anna is 4-5 on the morning line, facing seven rivals following the Wednesday scratches of Batucada and Miss New York. Raging Sea, 7-2 second choice, has won six of her last seven, including a Grade 1 upset over Idiomatic two back. Awesome Result is 4-1 third choice, in from Japan with a 7-for-7 record. :: ON SALE NOW: DRF Breeders' Cup Packages! Get everything you need to win and save 41% off the retail price. Candied, 15-1, is a Grade 1 winner rounding into form; her odds could drop. The others are 20-1 or higher and in tough. Alice Verite, Sugar Fish, Honor D Lady, and Che Evasora complete the field. Thorpedo Anna acted like a potential star before she ran. That is why breeder Judy Hicks asked McPeek if she could buy back in for partial ownership even after selling the filly as a yearling for $40,000. Hicks said it was the first time she retained ownership in a horse she sold at auction. “I thought she was special from the beginning,” Hicks said. So did McPeek, who trains Thorpedo Anna for owners that include his wife, Sherri McPeek; Mark Edwards; and Brookdale Racing. “She always worked fast as a 2-year-old, but you never know how horses are going to handle the first start,” McPeek said. Thorpedo Anna won by more than eight lengths at Keeneland. Two weeks later, she won an allowance at Churchill Downs, and two weeks later at the same track, she finished second in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes. Her first three starts we were pretty aggressive, we asked a lot of her quickly,” McPeek said. “But she had done it all so easy.” The trainer looked forward to her 3-year-old season, which started later than planned. McPeek said Thorpedo Anna was sent to Oaklawn Park. “We came in one morning, and she had hit her hip on something and had this huge bruise on her hip,” he said. “We sent her to Kentucky to have [Dr. Larry Bramlage] look at her. He recommended 30 days off. “I think the 30 days she missed actually helped her fill out a little more.” The filly’s campaign began March 30, and she went on a tear. She won the Grade 2 Fantasy and four Grade 1s – Kentucky Oaks, Acorn, Coaching Club American Oaks, and Cotillion. Her fastest race was a runner-up finish two back in the Travers. Thorpedo Anna missed by a head to Fierceness, earning a career-high 111 Beyer. The filly’s nine starts produced seven wins, two seconds, and more than $2.8 million. Thorpedo Anna shipped Sunday to Del Mar. While in transit, she sustained a superficial wound by scraping her hip and stifle. It was not serious. She walked Monday, jogged Tuesday, and was full of herself in an energetic gallop Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. :: Get Breeders' Cup Betting Strategies from Brad Free and David Aragona for exclusive wager recommendations and play the races with confidence! McPeek, who won his first Kentucky Derby this spring with Mystik Dan, is seeking his first Breeders’ Cup victory. He has seven seconds and 10 thirds from 37 BC starters. “It’s been one of those elusive things, with all the seconds and thirds,” McPeek said. “It’s been kind of weird. I don’t have any concerns about it.” Raging Sea is trained by Chad Brown, whose 10 BC Distaff starters have produced three seconds and a third. The filly earned a 97 Beyer upsetting Idiomatic in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign two back, then bounced to 86 in winning the Grade 2 Beldame. “She’s going to have to be the recipient of a good trip and a hot pace in front of her to spring an upset,” Brown said. “That said, she’s more than capable of doing it if she gets the right setup.” If the Distaff unfolds as expected, Raging Sea and jockey Flavien Prat are up against it chasing lone speed. But Raging Sea did win the Grade 2 Shuvee from behind slow fractions. Raging Sea, by Curlin, has won seven races and more than $1.1 million from 12 starts for Alpha Delta Stables. Awesome Result will try to replicate the Distaff upset by Japan shipper Marche Lorraine in 2021, the last time the Breeders’ Cup was at Del Mar. Awesome Result, a Kentucky-bred by Justify, scored a five-length victory last out racing 1 1/4 miles in Japan. Yutaka Take is her rider. Awesome Result is trained by Yasutoshi Ikee. “She looks like a strong colt,” Ikee said. The 54-year-old trainer, whose Trailblazer finished fourth in the 2012 BC Turf at Santa Anita, is the son of Yasuo Ikee, who trained Japan star Deep Impact. Candied won the Grade 1 Alcibiades as a 2-year-old, missed by a head this summer in the Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga, and enters off a third-place finish to Idiomatic in the Grade 1 Spinster. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides for trainer Todd Pletcher, who will add blinkers to Candied’s equipment. Grade 2 winner Honor D Lady is trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. Honor D Lady won the Delaware Handicap in July, then was off three months. She finished next to last in the Spinster, losing by more than 18 lengths. “Her last race was uncharacteristic with how she ran, but that’s not her fault,” Joseph told the Breeders’ Cup media team. “We had missed some training with a respiratory issue. We knew she needed to run and the race brought her forward.” Tyler Gaffalione rides Honor D Lady. :: BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more Sugar Fish and Che Evasora are the only Distaff starters from California. Sugar Fish was fortunate to win the Grade 2 Zenyatta last out. Her main rival Flying Connection was scratched by Santa Anita veterinarians; Zenyatta runner-up Alpha Bella stumbled badly at the start. Che Evasora, who won a Win and You’re In Race in Argentina in May, finished last by more than 28 lengths in her U.S. debut in the Zenyatta. Phil D’Amato trains Che Evasora. Tiago Pereira is her rider. D’Amato said new tactics will be employed in the Distaff. “We’re going to let her do what she did in Argentina, which is let her fall out of the gate and come with a run and see what happens,” he said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.