Souper Colossal blazes in workout for BC Juvenile

ARCADIA, Calif. – Eddie Plesa Jr. wasn’t singing the trainer’s familiar refrain of “it was just what we wanted” following Souper Colossal’s super-fast half-mile workout in 45.57 seconds Monday at Santa Anita in preparation for Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

“It wasn’t ideal. I would much rather go too slow than too fast,” said Plesa, who added that he was looking for a half-mile in 48 or 49 seconds.

Under jockey Paco Lopez, Souper Colossal went in fractions of 11.22 seconds, 22.00, and 45.57. He galloped out five furlongs in 58.41 and six furlongs in 1:12.41.

Lopez said he thought the horse was going in 47 seconds and that the horse “was really comfortable.”

“Is it perfect the way he worked today?” Plesa said. “You look at the other side, he could have been all out to work in 49 and come back blowing, and then you say, ‘Geez, he’s not fit.’ That’s not the case. He’s fit. He’s ready. It wasn’t ideal, but we’ll take a lemon and make lemonade out of it, hopefully.”

Souper Colossal, a son of War Front, is undefeated in three starts, all at Monmouth Park. He won a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race June 7, the off-the-turf Tyro Stakes by 3 3/4 lengths on Aug. 3, and then the Sapling Stakes by 5 1/2 lengths on Aug. 31.

By design, he hasn’t run since.

“I don’t think you’ll see a horse in that race that has won as easily as he has in any of his races – almost to a fault,” said Plesa, who trains Souper Colossal for Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation.

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Also working Monday for the Juvenile at Santa Anita was Mr. Z, who went a half-mile in 48.97 seconds. Mr. Z, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, worked in blinkers, equipment he is expected to wear for the first time in a race.

One Lucky Dane, a good-looking maiden winner for Bob Baffert, went five furlongs in 1:00.24 in company with the maiden Fame and Power.

“He’s steady,” Baffert said. “He’s not real fast. He’s not real quick.”