‘He’s Got A Lot To Prove’: Soup And Sandwich On Florida Derby Menu

Soup and Sandwich will be on the menu for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Live Oak Plantation's undefeated homebred is scheduled to make his stakes debut in the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms, the tradition-rich Triple Crown prep that will headline a 14-race blockbuster card with 10 stakes worth $1.85 million in purses.

Soup and Sandwich enters the Florida Derby with a record of 2-for-2 – like the Casse-trained Helium, who captured the March 6 Tampa Bay Derby (G2) off a pair of victories in two career starts.

“Obviously, he's stepping up in class big time. You just never know until you try,” Casse said. “You just have to go back a few weeks to Helium. Helium was just able to overcome a lot of obstacles because he's a good horse. We feel that Soup and Sandwich is a good horse, but he's got a lot to prove.”

Named by Live Oak Plantation's Charlotte Weber, who is on the Campbell Soup Co.'s board of trustees and is the granddaughter of Campbell Soup founder John Dorrance, Soup and Sandwich graduated at Gulfstream Jan. 28. The son of Into Mischief won the 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight race by 7 ¼ lengths under wraps.

“I never expect that out of a first-time starter – that not usually our M.O.,” Casse said. “We just wanted him to run well. I told Mrs. Weber that I expected him to run well, but did I expect that type of performance? Maybe not.”

Soup and Sandwich came back to win by 2 ¾ lengths in a mile-and-40-yard optional claiming allowance at Tampa Bay Downs Feb. 24.

“He passed that test with flying colors,” Casse said. “We wanted him to rate a little bit, and he did. He accelerated when asked. He ran fast enough and there seemed to be more in the tank. You couldn't have asked for him to run better.”

Casse had expected that Soup and Sandwich would be a promising 2-year-olds.

“I had him last spring. We really liked him. We thought he was one of our best 2-year-olds, but he hurt himself jumping out of the gate when he was getting ready to run,” Casse said. “Mrs. Weber is a very patient lady. We sent him home and gave him plenty of time, and that's being rewarded the way he's come back.”

Soup and Sandwich has been training forwardly since his Tampa Bay Downs score.

“Our thoughts are that he's doing better than ever,” Casse said. “He's learned a lot obviously in a short period of time. He's doing well.”

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Bloodlines Presented By ThoroughbredAuctions.Com: Souper Sensational Extends John Nerud’s Legacy

Becoming the 70th stakes winner for sire Curlin (by Smart Strike), Souper Sensational won the Glorious Song Stakes at Woodbine on Oct. 17 by four lengths. Now unbeaten in two starts, Souper Sensational became the ninth winner of the race for trainer Mark Casse and the seventh winner of the race for jockey Patrick Husbands.

Bred in Kentucky by Newtown Anner Stud, Souper Sensational was sent through Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale at Saratoga in 2019, and for $725,000 the good-looking chestnut filly sold to Charlotte Weber's Live Oak Plantation.

The filly is out of the unraced Indian Charlie mare Kateri, who was purchased by Sallusto and Albina, agent, on behalf of Newtown Anner Stud for $167,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton February mixed sale in Kentucky. The mare was in foal for the first time on a cover to Paynter, sold on Feb. 8, and foaled the next day. Consigned to the Fasig-Tipton November sale, the Paynter foal was an RNA at $155,000, then repeated that experience the next year at the Keeneland September yearling sale for an RNA price of $85,000. That youngster became the gelding Karamojo, who has not won in two starts but is still in training.

The mare's second foal, Hedonistic (Tiznow), experienced a similar situation at the sales, going through the ring at the 2018 Keeneland September and Fasig-Tipton October sales for $275,000 and $175,000, respectively, as an RNA. Then in 2019, Hedonistic sold at the OBS April sale for $420,000 to Red Oak Stable and Newtown Anner. In his only start, the colt ran fourth in a maiden special later that year.

Both in the sales ring and again on the racetrack, Souper Sensational experienced a much different result than her elder siblings. Now a stakes winner and unbeaten racer at two, she will be encouraging buyers and equine evaluators to look kindly upon her subsequent siblings.

In addition to the horses above, Kateri is the dam of a 2020 yearling colt by Maclean's Music and a weanling full sister to Souper Sensational. Most recently, the mare was bred to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

Kateri is out of Grade 3 stakes winner Sue's Good News (Woodman) and is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Tiz Miz Sue (Tiznow) and multiple stakes winner Bulletin (City Zip). They trace back to Souper Sensational's fourth dam Mochila (In Reality), a stakes winner who was second in the Grade 1 Ruffian and third in the G1 Beldame.

Mochila was a half-sister to champion Cozzene (Caro), and both were bred by the legendary trainer John Nerud. A winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile as a 5-year-old, Cozzene retired to stud in Kentucky at Gainesway Farm and became an important sire, getting 92 stakes winners.

In addition to Cozzene and Mochila, Nerud bred both Grade 2 winner Movin' Money (Dr. Fager) and her stakes-winning full sister Ivy Road from the Prince John mare Ride the Trails. Nerud acquired Ride the Trails from breeder Joseph Roebling, who bred her from the Sir Gaylord mare Wildwook.

The unraced Ride the Trails was Wildwook's second foal. Her third was Laramie Trail (Swaps), who won the 1975 Gotham and Bay Shore Stakes, then became a useful sire in South America. Wildwook's fifth foal was Western Wind (Gallant Man), who ran third in the 1976 Futurity and in the 1977 Blue Grass Stakes, both Grade 1 races.

When I spoke to John Nerud several years ago about his breeding experiences, he mentioned the acquisition of Ride the Trails.

“Training and racing in New York, you got to know Joe Roebling and his racehorses pretty well,” Nerud declared. “He was a man who was very much a tremendous individual and an unusually perceptive breeder.

“Roebling loved his racehorses, and none of his families was stronger than that one from Portage (War Admiral),” he continued. “She was a full-sister to Blue Peter, who was the top 2-year-old colt [in 1948], and she wasn't a top racehorse herself. But she was a producer.”

Indeed, Portage was the dam of four stakes winners: Rainy Lake (Royal Charger), Pack Trip (My Babu), Black Mountain (Tudor Minstrel), and Wyoming Wildcat (Gallant Man). The mare's daughters, however, have earned Portage even more lasting fame with successive generations of quality that include such as Broodmare of the Year Fall Aspen, Preakness winner Timber Country, Dixie Union, and Dubai Millennium.

“There was a lot of ability in this family,” Nerud continued, “and yet the greatest thing about them, from a trainer's point of view, was that you could train weight on them. Most horses, if you train them and really start getting into them, they lighten up. They lose weight, lose strength, and lose speed. But this group of horses love their training and racing. They get stronger with more racing, and they are tough and sound. I love them.”

If Souper Sensational continues this family history, she should have a fascinating career ahead, both on the track and, sometime in the future, at stud.

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Win Win Win Retired Due To Tendon Injury; Stud Plans Pending

Live Oak Plantation's homebred Win Win Win, impressive winner of the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga in his most recent start, Aug. 29, has been retired from racing due to a tendon injury.

A versatile 4-year-old son of Grade 1 winner Hat Trick, Win Win Win was rounding into the best form of his career for trainer Michael Trombetta and was targeting a start in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland. Stud plans will be announced at a later date.

“I would like to thank Mike Trombetta and his staff and the Live Oak Stud crew for all the care they gave Win Win Win,” said Charlotte Weber. “He provided us a lot of thrills on the racetrack and I am looking forward to his future as a stallion.”

In a deep and contentious Forego, Win Win Win circled the field at least eight-wide around the turn and finished with a dramatic flourish, going from last to first in the seven-furlong event to win in 1:21.71, leaving in his wake four Grade 1 winners—Complexity, Whitmore, Mind Control, and Firenze Fire.

Last season at three in his sophomore bow, Win Win Win set a new track record at Tampa Bay Downs in winning the Pasco Stakes, an early prep for the G2 Tampa Bay Derby. He drew off with authority in the seven-furlong test, speeding to an eye-catching 7 1/4-length score in the stakes and track-record time of 1:20.89, smashing the previous record of 1:21.40 set by Catalina Red in the 2014 renewal of the Pasco.

Demonstrating his versatility, Win Win Win also annexed the Manila Stakes at one mile on turf at Belmont Park after finishing third in the Tampa Bay Derby and second in the G2 Blue Grass Stakes. In the latter, he picked up 40 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, securing him a spot in the gate for the first Saturday in May. He ultimately finished ninth in the Derby and seventh in the Preakness Stakes before his win in the Manila.

Win Win Win won two of his three starts as a 2-year-old, taking a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Laurel in his career debut. He crushed allowance foes by 6 1/2 lengths at 5 1/2 furlongs in his next start and concluded his juvenile season with a second-place finish in the seven-furlong Heft Stakes at Laurel.

All told, Win Win Win lived up to his name, capturing five of his 12 starts, placing in four others, and earning $601,600 in his accomplished career. Win Win Win is the seventh Grade 1 winner to represent his sire and he is produced from the winning Smarty Jones mare Miss Smarty Pants, a half-sister to graded stakes winner and multiple graded stakes-placed Unbridled Humor.

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Grade I Winner Win Win Win Retired

Live Oak Plantation’s homebred Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}–Miss Smarty Pants, by Smarty Jones), victor of the GI Forego S. at Saratoga in his most recent start Aug. 29, has been retired from racing due to a tendon injury. The versatile 4-year-old was targeting a start in the GI Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland for trainer Michael Trombetta. Stud plans will be announced at a later date.

“I would like to thank Mike Trombetta and his staff and the Live Oak Stud crew for all the care they gave Win Win Win,” said Charlotte Weber. “He provided us a lot of thrills on the racetrack and I am looking forward to his future as a stallion.”

In the Forego, Win Win Win went from last to first to defeat a field that included four Grade I winners. Last season at three, in his sophomore bow, Win Win Win set a new track record at Tampa Bay Downs in winning the Pasco S., stopping the clock in 1:20.89. He also annexed the Manila S. at one mile on turf at Belmont Park after finishing third in the GII Tampa Bay Derby and second in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S.

Win Win Win retires with a record of 12-5-3-1 and earnings of $601,600.

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