Souper Striking relishes soft turf in Hilltop S. win

Live Oak Plantation’s homebred 3-year-old filly Souper Striking earned her first stakes win on Friday at Pimlico when she won the $100,000 Hilltop S. by an eye-catching 6 1/4-lengths.

Racing over a very soft turf course that has been inundated with rain over the past 24 hours, Souper Striking was in front soon after the start and was never seriously threatened after the first half-mile. The final time of 1:51.72 for the mile was indicative of how laboring the going was.

“You don’t know how these horses are going to handle this kind of going,” said trainer Michael Trombetta. “There is no way to practice for it. You just hope that good things happen and for her it did. She was able to keep on getting it. She did well.”

The winner has now earned $141,270, with a record of 3-1-3 in nine starts. She is the first foal out of Gold Empire, by Live Oak’s ill-fated sire Brilliant Speed. Gold Empire is a half-sister to Live Oak’s Shakertown S. (G2) winner Holding Gold.

Souper Striking wins the 2018 Hilltop S. – Mathea Kelley photo