Trainer Trombetta gains another Monmouth stakes victory as Souper Forces takes Red Bank
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After going nearly six years without a stakes victory at Monmouth Park, trainer Michael Trombetta picked up his second in three weeks when Souper Forces rallied late to win the $100,000 Red Bank on Sunday.
The Florida-bred gelding, with a perfect ride under jockey Charlie Marquez, improved again in his second start as a 4-year-old, charging down the center to win by 3 1/2 lengths. The commanding score marked his second stakes victory in six career starts.
“He always shows up,” Trombetta said. “He had some minor issues that he needed some time for and it looks like he’s come back running well. At the end of the season last year we had to put him away for a little bit.”
Trombetta, Marquez, and Live Oak Plantation also connected for the trainer’s first stakes win at Monmouth this summer when Souper Williwaw rallied in similar fashion to win the $100,000 Violet on Aug. 22. In both cases, Live Oak entered another horse in the field with trainer Mark Casse, but Trombetta got the better of both intramural contests.
Before winning the Violet last month, Trombetta’s last stakes victory at Monmouth was in October 2020, when Premier Star won the $100,000 Jersey Shore.
The Red Bank was the only race to remain on grass at Monmouth on Sunday, as rain forced the other four turf races to be moved to dirt. The course was listed as good, and Souper Forces completed the mile distance in 1:39.01.
“Obviously, I had my worries with the softer turf,” Trombetta said. “I didn’t know how he would do with that. Heading into the first turn, I think the rider was just trying to get him comfortable and find the best part of the track. It looked like he settled nicely.”
J J Zo Zo, a New Jersey-bred stakes winner stepping into open company, took an uncontested lead early on, kicking ahead by 2 1/2 lengths through an opening quarter-mile in 23.42 seconds. He remained in front while completing the half-mile in 48.16, but he sustained pressure for the rest of the race and finally gave in at the top of the stretch.
La Frost was the only horse who never challenged among the six older males, and as the field turned for home, J J Zo Zo held a tenuous lead with a wall of four rivals just behind. There Are No Words, another New Jersey-bred trained by Chuck Spina, had the first crack at the leader after saving ground on the turn, but the Live Oak pair of Souper Forces and Win for the Money were right alongside him.
Win for the Money, a Grade 1 winner earlier in his career for Casse, dug in for a battle against There Are No Words, but Souper Forces wasted little time with either rival. Marquez swung wide into the stretch and blew past the contenders in midstretch, opening up at the end. Souper Forces went off as the 2-1 second choice and paid $6 to win.
“Today, I knew with a smaller field I had to be a little closer, especially with the soft turf, without using him, and it worked out,” Marquez said. “Around the turn, at about the three-eighths, he was taking me along. I was able to get him outside. When I got him outside he took off. He was much the best today.”
Just as he did for Souper Forces’s 3-year-old campaign, Trombetta kicked off the gelding’s season in a six-furlong synthetic sprint at Presque Isle Downs in July. Last year, his prep on the Tapeta led to two straight victories going longer on turf, including the $75,000 Showing Up at Gulfstream Park. The move yielded another stakes victory on Sunday.
There Are No Words, resilient at 11-1, never went away on the inside and prevailed by a nose over the 9-5 favorite Win for the Money, denying Live Oak the one-two finish.
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