Casse, Trombetta square off with Live Oak runners in Red Bank
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Live Oak Plantation entered two turf runners with vastly different levels of experience in the $100,000 Red Bank Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park. Souper Forces, a 4-year-old gelding with two listed stakes victories, will take on Win for the Money, a 7-year-old Grade 1 winner, in yet another intramural contest between trainers Michael Trombetta and Mark Casse.
Two weeks ago, Trombetta and Casse both entered horses owned by Live Oak in the $100,000 Violet at Monmouth, packing three runners into the five-horse field. Casse had the 2-1 second choice Souper Zonda, but Trombetta got the win that day when Souper Williwaw rallied to score at 5-1.
Trombetta might have the longer shot in the Red Bank as well, but the trainer could not be much happier with Souper Forces ahead of his second start as a 4-year-old. In his return at Presque Isle last month, the gelding earned a near career-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure while finishing second in a six-furlong allowance on synthetic. He will now stretch back out to a mile on turf.
“It was very good. Mission accomplished,” Trombetta said of the race at Presque Isle. “I wanted to get a race under his belt, and he closed up some ground, finished a good second. He’s had plenty of time back into this race.”
Last year, Souper Forces earned his maiden victory in a synthetic sprint before stretching out to win twice on grass, including the $75,000 Showing Up at Gulfstream Park.
“He’s one that snuck up on us,” Trombetta said. “His training was always okay, but his racing was really good. He just kept showing up and doing the right things.”
While Souper Forces grows accustomed to facing older rivals, Win for the Money will step back up to stakes company as a seasoned veteran for Casse. After winning the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in 2024, the gelding ran in six straight graded stakes without success, including the Breeders’ Cup Mile and Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational.
Despite finishing third in the Grade 1 Fourstardave last summer, Win for the Money regressed later in the year and had to drop in class. He notched his first victory since 2024 in an allowance at Colonial Downs last month, earning an 89 Beyer.
The New Jersey-breds J J Zo Zo and There Are No Words finished first and second in the $80,000 Irish War Cry Handicap in July and could be live in open company. There Are No Words encountered a tougher field in the $100,000 Oceanport last time out and finished fifth, while J J Zo Zo switched to dirt and finished second in the $100,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap.
La Frost, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Terri Pompay, will make his turf debut after finishing third in the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin last month. The 20-1 longshot picked up the pieces in a four-horse field and finished well behind Bishops Bay and Chunk of Gold, but he also earned a career-best 96 Beyer.
Spellcast rounds out the field of six and is coming off one of the strongest races of his career for trainer Tim Hamm, having rallied for a close second in the $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup at Penn National last month.
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