“She’s Got This,” Mark Edwards Riding High with Thorpedo Anna

Everyone has their superstitions before a big race. For Mark Edwards, it’s the shirt he was wearing when Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) broke her maiden by over eight lengths and became a ‘TDN Rising Star’ at Keeneland last October. He’s worn the same shirt for every one of her races since then other than her only career loss last year in the GII Golden Rod, so you can bet that Edwards will be sporting his shirt this weekend when Thorpedo Anna takes on the boys in the GI Travers Stakes.

“I’m doing my best to find some pink stuff that will go with it before Saturday,” said Edwards, a lawyer from Paducah, Kentucky who owns the superstar filly in partnership with Brookdale Racing, Judy Hicks and Magdalena Racing.

Along with a boisterous group of his kids, grandkids and other family members, Edwards will make the trip to Saratoga on Friday. Right now, he’s feeling pretty sure of his filly’s chances.

“Oh, she’s got this,” he said with a chuckle. “I mean, it’s a horse race. All of these horses are great. But I’m confident as can be that if she runs her race, she will win.”

Thorpedo Anna’s nearly undefeated career has been somewhat of a dream come true for Edwards as the filly has taken him to winner’s circles from Keeneland, Saratoga and of course Churchill Downs with her victory in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Edwards may not have the same numbers as some owners, but as a lifelong racing fan he understands that very few get to experience the ride he’s been on over the past ten months.

From left: Mark Edwards, Thorpedo Anna’s breeder and co-owner Judy Hicks, and Kenny McPeek | Coady Media

At a young age, Edwards inherited a love of racing from his uncle. The pair would watch the sport together and every year when his uncle went to the Kentucky Derby, Edwards sent him $6 to put an across-the-board bet in for him. After graduating with a degree in broadcasting, Edwards attended law school at the University of Kentucky. He would plan his class schedule to be jam-packed in the mornings so that afternoons were free for him to go to Keeneland in October and April.

After law school, Edwards served in the Marine Corps. He spent five years of active duty at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. Once a year, he was required to spend a week in Oceanside–which is just a few miles up the road from Del Mar–at the Camp Pendleton base for rifle and pistol training.

“I had to be at Camp Pendleton at like zero-dark-30,” Edwards recalled. “As soon as the sun would come up, we would start shooting and be done by 11:30 or noon. I would always plan to do this in August because that’s when Del Mar runs. I would take my lawn chair, fill my cooler with a six pack, and go sit on the rail and watch Del Mar every day.”

In 2009, Edwards joined a group of fraternity brothers from his undergraduate days at Western Kentucky University in buying a racehorse. In college, the friends had hosted a luau party every Derby week, so they named their filly Luau Queen (Include). Unfortunately, she never won a race for the group.

Edwards may have gotten his fill of horse ownership, but by then his oldest son Brian had caught the bug. Brian incessantly sent his dad information on West Point Thoroughbreds until eventually, Edwards got involved. He owned several horses through West Point, including millionaire and Grade I winner Ring Weekend (Tapit).

A few years ago, a friend had a horse with Kenny McPeek and asked Edwards to join the partnership. Rated R Superstar (Kodiak Kowboy) raced to multiple stakes wins for the group including a score in the 2018 GIII Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland.

Edwards was impressed with McPeek and asked the veteran trainer if he could pick out horses for people. He soon learned that McPeek not only did that, but he was pretty darn good at it. Edwards has gotten more involved in ownership since, owning a share of around six to 10 horses in training with McPeek each year.

In October of 2022, Edwards was at Keeneland to watch his horse Ten Days Later (Collected). The colt broke his maiden that day, but McPeek was not there for the winner’s circle photo. He was busy shopping at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale. As soon as the race was over, Edwards called McPeek to see if there were any yearlings he could buy in on. McPeek told him there was 20% left of a Fast Anna filly he had purchased for $40,000. Edwards replied that if he could name the filly, he would take her.

“Truth be told, I would have taken her anyway,” admitted Edwards with a laugh.

An ecstatic winner’s circle after the GI Acorn | Sarah Andrew

The filly was named after Edwards’s granddaughter Anna Thorpe, who swims competitively with the nickname “Thorpedo.”

Edwards has been at every one of Thorpedo Anna’s races other than her most recent victory in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks. He had a previous commitment to visit a friend who was performing at a concert in Mexico, so he sent the rest of his family to Saratoga to cheer her on. In Mexico, realized that he wasn’t going to be able to pull up the race on a streaming service, so he Facetimed a friend he knew would be watching from home. Through his friend’s television in Massachusetts, Edwards tuned in to Saratoga from Mexico as Thorpedo Anna hit the gate at the start and broke last, quickly raced to stalking position in second, then surged past at the quarter pole and won by 4 ½ lengths.

This weekend in Saratoga, Edwards will have his four children and all eight of his grandchildren on hand for the Travers, including Thorpedo Anna’s namesake and Edwards’s youngest granddaughter who is just five months old.

Edwards said that the opportunity to share this journey with his family is the greatest gift Thorpedo Anna could have given him.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I mean, who would have ever thought it. It’s really cool to have a horse that is this good, but to have my kids and all of their kids getting into it, it’s just really cool.”