Souper Forces battles back to win Artie Shiller Stakes
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ELMONT, N.Y. – The promise Souper Forces showed as a 3-year-old has manifested itself into full-blown talent at 4.
Following a dominant victory in the Red Bank Stakes at Monmouth Park last month, Souper Forces stepped up in competition and rose to the moment in Friday’s $175,000 Artie Schiller Stakes at Belmont Park, outfinishing favored Intellect to win the one-mile turf stakes by a neck. Intellect was one length in front of Capitol Hill, who finished in third.
“This horse is very nice, he’s coming along,” said Chris Aro, assistant to trainer Mike Trombetta. “He had a little time off and he’s coming along very nice.”
Souper Forces, a 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding by Laoban, won his first three races last year, including the Showing Up Stakes at Gulfstream. He ended his 3-year-old season with a sixth-place finish, beaten only 2 1/4 lengths by Layabout, in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream After time off, he came back with a second in a sprint at Presque Isle Downs before winning the Red Bank.
Friday, under Antonio Fresu, Souper Forces was eighth of nine down the backstretch, about six lengths off the pace established by Sounds Like a Plan. Intellect, under Manny Franco, was about a length in front of Souper Forces.
Around the far turn and into the lane, Fresu had Souper Forces five to six wide, but he was constantly moving forward. He hooked up with Intellect in upper stretch, put a neck in front of that one only to have Intellect battle back and put his neck in front. But in the final yards, Souper Forces was going better of the pair and got the victory.
“He gave me a great feeling since we left the gate, the horse was traveling beautifully on the bridle,” said Fresu, the Southern California transplant who won his second stakes in two days. “I was looking around just to make sure I was clear. From the three-eighths, he started getting into the bridle a little bit more, that’s when I put him on the outside and showed him the daylight, and as you see he carried me there and then he was really fighting hard to the wire. At some point, I thought the other horse put his head in front of me, but he came back. He was very game.”
For Fresu, the win for Trombetta was a full-circle moment. In September 2022, Fresu rode his first mount in the United States aboard Half Is Enough, who finished fifth in the Grade 2 Prioress Stakes at Saratoga.
“It was a good experience and I have to thank him even for this horse,” Fresu said.
Souper Forces, owned by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation, covered the mile in 1:33.02 over firm turf and returned $14.42.
Intellect had to withstand a stewards’ inquiry after Clever Mischief, under Javier Castellano, clipped his heels in the stretch. The stewards made no change to the order of finish. Clever Mischief finished eighth in the nine-horse field.
“He was trying to keep me pinned in, I had more horse to get through, and he touched my horse from behind and then he clipped heels,” Franco said.
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