Sunday’s featured $100,000 Bold Ruckus Stakes ended in a ‘souper’ stretch duel as a pair of Souper Speedy-sired sophomores duked it out on the turf at Woodbine Racetrack. In the end, Souper Hot came out on top in a neck decision, defeating his persistent rival Souper Success for his first stakes victory in rein to Eurico Rosa Da Silva.
Souper Success and Souper Hot raced one-two through a :22.99 opening quarter and :45.99 half before their stretch battle ensued in the six-furlong turf sprint for Ontario-sired three-year-olds.
“When he broke there, it was like he was running so light like a feather,” said Da Silva of the first-time turf starter. “The way he was loving the ground and the turf today is in perfect shape, and he was just running so, so easy. I loved the way he was going, and I knew that when we turned home, we’d have a big shot. It was two good horses and we got lucky today.”
The Michael Mattine trainee, who won at first asking last July, prevailed in 1:09.42 over firm turf for his second career win from seven starts.
The victory was not only the first in stakes action for the colt, but also for longtime owners Carlo D’Amato and Stacey Van Camp.
“We were so close last year, it was a little heart-breaking,” said Van Camp, referring to Souper Hot’s neck loss in the six-furlong Bull Page Stakes last fall. “I mean, this one was close too, but we did it.”
“It’s amazing. It was an amazing trip,” said D’Amato. “It was worth the wait and I’m glad to be here. Hopefully it’s the first time and it’s not the last time.”
Sent postward at odds of 4-1, Souper Hot paid $9.50, $3.80 and $2.60. He combined with Souper Success ($2.90, $2.30) for an exacta worth $25.
Corduroy Road ($2.50) followed the front-runners and completed a sweep of the $22.90 trifecta for sire Souper Speedy, finishing 1-1/2 lengths behind.
Society’s Tiger and Bourbon Stritta completed the top five order of finish followed by G Prince of Silver, who did not receive a fair start resulting in a refund of single race bets wagered on that horse.
Both Souper Success and Corduroy Road have been nominated to the $1 million Queen’s Plate, set for June 29.
Live Thoroughbred racing continues on Wednesday evening at Woodbine, with first race post time scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
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