Thursday, February 20, 2025
HALLANDALE BEACH - Live Oak Plantation’s Souper Times produced a ‘bullet’ workout this morning at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, where the promising 3-year-old covered four furlongs in :47.82 seconds for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.
The son of Not This Time, whose clocking was the fastest of 19 workouts recorded at the distance, is nominated to the $400,000, Gr. II Coolmore Fountain of Youth on March 1 but has been entered in an optional claiming allowance next Thursday at Gulfstream.
Souper Times is coming off a second-place finish behind the highly-regarded Todd Pletcher-trained River Thames, who is being pointed to the Fountain of Youth after impressively launching his career with two dominating victories during the Championship Meet. Prior to his second-place finish on dirt, Live Oak Plantation’s $370,000 purchase at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August sale had made a winning debut at a mile on turf Jan. 4 at Gulfstream.
The late-developing colt will remain on dirt in next week’s 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance.
“I’m still trying to decide if he’s a turf horse or not. We know he’s a good grass horse, but his pedigree says ‘dirt.’ We’re still trying to put the pieces together to the puzzle,” Casse said. “He’s a puzzle. I’m looking forward to the race. It’s at a mile and an eighth, which I think he’ll like. We’ll go from there.”
Dylan Davis, who has been aboard for Souper Time’s two starts, has the return mount for next Thursday’s $98,000 Race 8 feature for 3-year-olds that drew a field of eight.
Casse reported that Tracy Farmer’s La Cara is scheduled to run in the $200,000, Gr. II Fasig-Tipton Davona Dale, a mile dirt stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the Fountain of Youth undercard. La Cara, a homebred daughter of Street Sense who finished fifth in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar, made an eye-catching 2025 debut at Tampa Bay Downs, scoring a sharp front-running 6 ½-length victory in the Feb. 8 Suncoast.
La Cara captured the Gr. III Pocahontas at Churchill Downs prior to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
The Davona Dale offers 50 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the winner.
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