Debut winner Soup and Sandwich likely to try allowance ranks rather than stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Mark Casse said he would like to try the flashy maiden winner Soup and Sandwich in a two-turn race for his next start, but not necessarily on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Bred and owned by the Live Oak Plantation of Charlotte Weber, Soup and Sandwich earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure in winning his career debut at six furlongs last Thursday at Gulfstream. The gray 3-year-old colt is by the red-hot sire Into Mischief.

First-level allowance races for 3-year-olds going a distance are occasionally available here and at Tampa Bay Downs at this time of year, although sometimes the races are difficult to fill.

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“I’d rather not go straight into a stake if I don’t have to,” Casse said.

◗ Letruska was scheduled to return to training later this week at the Palm Meadows training center after posting a second straight dominant victory in the older filly-mare ranks over the weekend.

Letruska won the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic on Sunday evening, earning a 98 Beyer to match the same number she earned in winning the Grade 3 Rampart here Dec. 12. The 5-year-old mare is trained by Fausto Gutierrez, whose initial foray into U.S. racing came a little more than three years ago at Gulfstream with stakes runners such as Kukulkan and Jala Jala.

◗ Four-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Javier Castellano has targeted Feb. 17 for his return to action following surgery on his right leg, near his hip. Castellano was hoping to be back exercising horses late this week, according to his agent, John Panagot. The 43-year-old native of Venezuela has been sidelined since undergoing elective surgery Nov. 16 in New York.