If trainer Mike Trombetta can keep Souper Blessing on a regular racing schedule, he feels he may have a pretty nice horse for next year. Saturday, in just his fourth start of his 3-year-old season, Souper Blessing came with a strong late run under Edwin Gonzalez, splitting horses in midstretch and holding off a hard-charging Irish Aces to win the $125,000 Tropical Park Derby by a neck at Gulfstream Park. It was another neck back to Boppy O in third. Trombetta said several minor issues limited Souper Blessing to only three previous starts in 2023. Most recently, Trombetta had to scratch the horse from the $150,000 Ontario Derby at Woodbine on Oct. 21 due to a skin infection that needed treatment. After that scratch, Souper Blessing traveled from Woodbine to Trombetta’s barn in Fair Hill, Md., and then on to Gulfstream, where he finished second, beaten a neck in the Showing Up Stakes over the Tapeta surface on Nov. 4. Souper Blessing’s works in the interim were solid, Trombetta said. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. “We’ve always liked this horse, he hasn’t had the best continuity or luck at times,” Trombetta said from Maryland, where he watched the race. “His last couple workouts down there my guys have been raving how good he’s been doing and he showed up with it today.” Souper Blessing, under Edwin Gonzalez, raced a joint fifth down the backside while longshot Legacy Isle set a decent pace of 47.46 seconds for a half-mile. Approaching the top of the stretch, Souper Blessing was behind a wall of four horses, just needing room. A gaping hole materialized between Boppy O and Smokey Mandat and Gonzalez punched Souper Blessing on through. He was able to hold off a wide-rallying Irish Aces, the slight 7-2 favorite who was charging from last under Irad Ortiz Jr. after drawing in from the also-eligible list. Trombetta said Souper Blessing ran “fantastic” in the Showing Up after arriving in time to get one three-furlong workout in four days before the race. “This time he’d been camped out down there since, had time to get his act together,” Trombetta said. “I knew it would not be an easy one by any means and he exceeded our expectations today.” Souper Blessing, a son of Temple City owned and bred by Live Oak Plantation, covered the 1 1/16 miles over firm turf in 1:40.53 - 0.59 seconds slower than the final time for the Tropical Park Oaks - and returned $26.20 to win. Following Boppy O in the order of finish were Angliophile, Ohana Honor, Smokey Mandate, Amstrong, Torigo, Legacy Isle, Mutaawid, April Fools Andy and Eyes On the King. Scratched were Souzak and Harrington. Be My Sunshine upsets Oaks A terrific ride from Edgard Zayas helped Be My Sunshine overcome post 11 in a 12-horse field and record an 8-1 upset in the $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. Zayas was able to get Be My Sunshine from post 11 into the three-path entering the first turn.  After racing between horses in the third flight down the backside while 95-1 longshot Speed Trap set a decent pace, Zayas maneuvered Be My Sunshine to the rail in upper stretch, she accelerated strongly to wrest the lead from Alpha Bella in midstretch then outlasted a six-wide-rallying Breath Away to win the Tropical Parks by a head. It was a half-length back Alpha Bella, who was another half-length in front of her favored Todd Pletcher stablemate Cairo Consort. “What a ride by Edgard, he was able to save all the ground, got a [seam] at the top of the lane and that was the difference between winning and losing,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “I ride him a lot, I’m hard on him and today he won the race. If he doesn’t give her that ride, she probably doesn’t win.” Be My Sunshine, a daughter of Frosted owned and bred by Ken Ramsey, covered the 1 1/16 miles over firm ground in 1:39.94 and returned $19.40 to win. Be My Sunshine was 15-1 as the field was loading and went off at 8-1. “My only worry [was] I didn’t want to rush her up, I  just wanted to get her out of there fast enough so that I could cross over and get a good position,” Zayas told Gulfstream publicity. “It worked out good. She helped me a lot the whole way. We found a hole on the rail and [she] kicked in and held on.” While Zayas was able to guide Be My Sunshine toward the rail turning for home, Vincent Cheminaud was six-wide in the lane aboard Breath Away and came up just short. Following Cairo Consort in the order of finish were, in order, Sun Been, Implicated, Startup Mentality, Zipadoo, Riding Pretty, Speed Trap, Dolce Sopresa and Personal Pursuit. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.