Influx of Northern turf runners for My Charmer, Tropical Turf

MIAMI – The Gulfstream Park championship meet does not begin until Dec. 5, but the influx of Northern-based horsemen to south Florida is well underway. Saturday’s pair of Grade 3 handicaps at Gulfstream Park West, the My Charmer and Tropical Turf, perfectly illustrates that point.

A field of 10 older fillies and mares will contest the 1 1/16-mile My Charmer, including the Chad Brown-trained duo of Hellenistic and Hope Cross, along with Sandiva from the barn of Todd Pletcher. Among the other transplanted Northerners in the lineup are Distorted Beauty, Kitten’s Dumplings, and the Bill Mott-trained Lady Lara.

Sandiva has been idle since finishing a troubled fifth in the Grade 1 Just a Game in June. She won a pair of stakes, including the Grade 3 Suwanee River, in Florida last winter.

“She’s always been a filly who trains well in the morning, and she’s training really well now, so hopefully she’s prepared to run good off the layoff,” said Pletcher. “All indications are she’s coming back to good form. She needed a little bit of a break after being on a steady campaign the first half of the year, with the hopes of keeping her in training in 2016. We know she likes Gulfstream, and by bringing her back now, we’ll have time to evaluate a couple of performances before committing to a 2016 campaign.”

Pletcher and Mott also will be represented in the 1 1/16-mile Tropical Turf by All Included and Take the Stand. They will be joined by the multiple stakes-winning New York-bred Kharafa, along with recent arrivals Flashlight, Inchcape, and Key to Power.

The local contingent in the Tropical Turf is headed by Grade 1 winner Lochte, who shipped to Florida this past summer and has since won two turf stakes.

All Included has won 4 of 9 career starts but has yet to capture a graded stakes. He did finish third in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch on closing day at Saratoga.

“He’s been a good, steady campaigner who has the ability to have a breakthrough graded stakes win, but like most turf horses, he’ll need to work out the right setup and right trip,” said Pletcher.