BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Close to becoming a stakes winner in two of his last three races, Live Oak Plantation’s homebred Souper Quest is the 7-2 morning line favorite in an overflow field for the Grade 3 Woodford presented by FanDuel at Keeneland Saturday. The 4-year-old Florida-bred colt is among a dozen 3-year-olds and older, plus three on the also-eligible list, entered to go five-and-a-half furlongs on the grass. The Woodford is a prep for the $1 million Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint to be run at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on Nov. 2.
Souper Quest started the year with two runner-up performances including when second by a length to Woodford-contender to Xy Speed in a $75,000 overnight handicap sprinting five furlongs on the turf at Gulfstream Park in April. Trainer Mark Casse then sent him to Monmouth Park for the $108,000 Get Serious where he finished a length-a-quarter behind winner Grooms All Bizness at the same distance.
His last two starts came while sprinting on the outer turf at Saratoga Race Course beginning with a win against upper level, $80,000 optional claimers on July 28. Last out on Sept. 2, Souper Quest finished third, less than a length off of winner Big Invasion in the $150,000 Harvey Pack.
The reliable Souper Quest has never finished out of the top three in nine career races with four wins, three seconds and two thirds. The son of Munnings out of Lady of Victory, by War Front has earned $306,042.
Souper Quest is 7-2 on the morning line and will be ridden from post eight by Jose Ortiz.
Souper Quest will face the familiar Our Shot for the fourth consecutive time.
The John P. Terranova II-trained 5-year-old gelding was second in both the Harvey Pack and the July 28 optional claiming and fourth in the Get Serious.
Another a consistent runner with five wins, four second and a third in 18 lifetime starts, Our Shot has earned $400,355 for Terranova, who co-owns the 5-year-old gelding with Gatsas Stables and Steven Schoenfeld.
Our Shot is 4-1 on the morning line and will be ridden by Luis Saez from post four.
Sonata Stable’s Arzak will put his perfect Keeneland record on the line as he goes after a second victory in the Woodford (G2).
Also trained by Mike Trombetta, Arzak won the Grade 2 Shakertown here this spring and with a victory would join Florida-bred Golden Pal as the most recent runners to complete a Woodford-Shakertown-Woodford hat trick.
“That’s a pretty good one right there,” Trombetta said of Golden Pal, a two-time Breeders’ Cup winner.
Arzak, who arrived at Keeneland on Tuesday from Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland, has not won in three tries—all in stakes—since the Shakertown in April. He has been close in all of those races including when fourth in the Harvey Pack. He was also third in the $104,000 Wolf Hill won by Nothing Better at Monmouth Park on July 20 and second to Cogburn in the Grade 1 Jaipur at Saratoga in June.
“In the Jaipur, Cogburn was in there and everybody else was pretty much running for second,” Trombetta said. “Then at Monmouth [in the Wolf Hill], I didn’t realize how short that stretch was and he just ran out of track. The last time at Saratoga, [in the Harvey Pack] he ran into some traffic.”
By Not This Time out of the Tapit mare Delightful Melody, Arzak has won eight with four seconds and two thirds in 28 lifetime starts with earnings of $943,019.
Arzak is a graduate of the 2020 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring Sale where Marc Tanner purchased him for $575,000 out of the Julie Davies consignment.
Jaime Torres will ride from post 10 and they are 6-1 in the program.
Rounding out the field are One Timer with jockey E. T. Baird, Axthem will be ridden by Mike Smith, Axel Conception has the mount on Charcoal, No Nay Hudson (Ire) will have Frankie Dettori up, Gerardo Corrales rides Nobals, Let My People Go has rider Luan Machado, Coppola and jockey Tyler Gaffalione, Gear Jockey will have Florent Geroux in the irons and Cristian Torres has the call on Xy Speed. Determined Kingdom, Hedwig and Foxtrotanna are on the also-eligible list.
–Portions of this story were taken from a Keeneland press release.