The 12 horses entered in the $125,000 Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park will be in familiar company with more than half the field having faced each other in stakes since Nov. 1.
Live Oak Plantation's undefeated homebred Souper Forces will see four competitors the 3-year-old gelded son of Laoban defeated in the Nov. 1 Showing Up Stakes at Gulfstream, where he won by half a length for trainer Michael Trombetta. The Showing Up Stakes is run at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, which are the same conditions as the Tropical Park Derby being run Nov. 13.
Those four entrants include the Showing Up runner-up, Layabout, and fourth-place finisher Candytown, who was only 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner. Layabout is also a gelded son of Laoban who won a 1-mile minor turf stakes at Gulfstream in August for owner Kevin Doyle and trainer Patrick Biancone. Candytown is a Calumet Farm homebred by Speightstown, who won a 1 1/16-mile allowance-level turf race at Saratoga Race Course but has been unsuccessful so far in a pair of stakes.
Three starters from the Nov. 8 Hill Prince Stakes (G3T) also are starters in the Tropical Park Derby, including the winner Tiz Dashing and third-place finisher Church and State. Tiz Dashing won the Hill Prince at Aqueduct Racetrack by a neck over Noble Confessor, who has been runner-up in three graded stakes. Run at 1 1/8 miles on the turf, the Hill Prince was Tiz Dashing's first stakes win. The son of Tiz the Law is raced by Sackatoga Stable and trained by Barclay Tagg.
Church and State won a pair of stakes at Woodbine earlier in the year, capturing the listed Toronto Cup Stakes most recently in August. The gelded son of Caravaggio is owned by Domenic Dilalla and trained by Steve Owens.
The Tropical Park Derby is Race 11 on the Gulfstream card that also features the $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks, also at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Live Oak has two homebreds in the Oaks field—Souper Williwaw, a 3-year-old daughter of Hard Spun , and Souper Zonda, a daughter of Curlin . Souper Williwaw comes into the Oaks off two wins at 1 1/16 miles on the grass for Trombetta, while Souper Zonda won an optional claiming race going 1 mile on the grass at Woodbine two races ago and most recently was eighth in a 1 1/16-mile stakes on Woodbine's all-weather Tapit main track. Souper Zonda, trained by Mark Casse, has made two starts on grass and won both in her five career starts.
The top three finishers from Gulfstream's Oct. 31 Cellars Shiraz Stakes are returning in the Oaks. Crafty Collector, a daughter of Collected , won the Cellars Shiraz by a length over Mischief in Motion and captured her first stakes for owner Ad Hoc Stable and trainer Gerald Bennett. Mischief in Motion, a daughter of Into Mischief owned but not bred by Live Oak, already had a stakes win to her credit after taking the 1 1/8-mile Christiana Stakes at Delaware Park for Trombetta. Ramsey Pond was third in the Cellars Shiraz for owner Ken Ramsey and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The daughter of Divisidero is three-time stakes-placed at Gulfstream. Earlier this year, she was second in the listed Sweetest Chant Stakes.
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, December 13, 2025, Race 8Entries: Tropical Park Oaks
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Smart Union (KY) John R. Velazquez 120 H. Graham Motion - 2 Souper Williwaw (FL) Jorge Ruiz 118 Michael J. Trombetta - 3 And One More Time (KY) Javier Castellano 122 Mark E. Casse - 4 Destino d'Oro (KY) Edgard J. Zayas 122 Brad H. Cox - 5 Mischief in Motion (KY) Emisael Jaramillo 122 Michael J. Trombetta - 6 Ramsey Pond (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 120 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 7 Crafty Collector (KY) Edwin Gonzalez 122 Gerald S. Bennett - 8 Souper Zonda (FL) Miguel Angel Vasquez 118 Mark E. Casse - 9 It Ain't Two (GB) David Egan 122 Riley Mott - 10 Supa Speed (LA) Junior Alvarado 120 Brian A. Lynch - 11 Nosleeptilbrooklyn (KY) Mario Gutierrez 118 Brian A. Lynch - 12 Miss Mary Nell (FL) Joe Bravo 118 Carlos A. David - 13 Brown Sugar (KY) Micah J. Husbands 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 14 Jalila (KY) David Egan 118 George Weaver -
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, December 13, 2025, Race 11Entries: Tropical Park Derby
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Thundering (MD) Yolber Torres 118 Derek S. Ryan - 2 Discreet Dancer (KY) John R. Velazquez 118 Antonio Sano - 3 Tiz Dashing (KY) Javier Castellano 124 Barclay Tagg - 4 Church and State (KY) Micah J. Husbands 124 Steven Owens - 5 Day and Age (KY) Edwin Gonzalez 122 Mark E. Casse - 6 Layabout (KY) Junior Alvarado 124 Patrick L. Biancone - 7 Chapman's Peak (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 122 Brad H. Cox - 8 Simulate (KY) Joe Bravo 122 William I. Mott - 9 Roar of the Beast (FL) Rajiv Maragh 120 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 10 Candytown (KY) Edgard J. Zayas 120 Todd A. Pletcher - 11 Tank (FL) Emisael Jaramillo 124 Carlos A. David - 12 Souper Forces (FL) Cipriano Gil 124 Michael J. Trombetta - 13 McRavin (KY) Jorge Ruiz 118 James J. Toner -
