Lochte on favorite course in Fort Lauderdale
One more year like he’s been having, and Lochte will be a millionaire. It was nearly two years ago that the gelding experienced a career breakthrough by winning the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap at nearly 40-1. It’s been onward and upward ever since.
Now an established star, Lochte is a major contender in a terrific field in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale, the second of two graded turf races for older horses Saturday at Gulfstream Park in south Florida.
Lochte will be seeking a fourth straight triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure when breaking from the rail in the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale, a 1 1/16-mile fixture carded as the 10th of 11 races, with post time set for 4:35 p.m. Eastern. Javier Castellano has the mount on Lochte, a five-time winner from nine Gulfstream starts.
“I’ve always said he’s a horse for the course,” Marcus Vitali, who trains the 6-year-old Lochte for the Crossed Sabres Farm LLC of Carolyn Vogel, told Gulfstream publicity this week. “He’s always done better in south Florida.”
His opposition in the 63rd Fort Lauderdale is solid. Foremost among the challengers are War Correspondent, a talented 6-year-old from the Christophe Clement stable, and Heart to Heart, a speedy winner of five turf stakes for Brian Lynch.
Some three hours earlier Saturday, the female counterpart to the Fort Lauderdale, the Grade 3, $150,000 Marshua’s River, will be run as the fourth race (post time 1:35 p.m.), and it features a similarly competitive lineup.
To the surprise of no one, Chad Brown has a couple of favorites for the 1 1/16-mile Marshua’s River in Partisan Politics and Hope Cross.
Partisan Politics, with Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride, returns from an eight-week layoff following a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere Stakes at Churchill Downs.
“She really didn’t handle the turf course and came out of it a little under the weather,” said Brown. “She’s bounced out of it nicely and is training well.”
Other logical players in the 18th Marshua’s River include Tuttipaesi, Sandiva, Devine Aida, and Strike Charmer.
Fort Lauderdale (race 10)
Key contenders
Lochte (Last 3 Beyers: 103-100-101)
* An earner of $755,767 from 32 starts, this hard knocker faces classier company in here than what he defeated in his last three starts, but there’s no denying his honesty and quality.
War Correspondent (Last 3 Beyers: 102-102-98)
* Scratched by Clement from the Dec. 12 El Prado at Gulfstream, this lightly raced horse will be making his first start since he won the Grade 3 Appleton on the Florida Derby undercard in March at Gulfstream.
Heart to Heart (Last 3 Beyers: 104-70-103)
* Ontario-bred 5-year-old surely will be sent to the front from his outside post by jockey Julien Leparoux in an attempt to duplicate his Thanksgiving Day performance in the River City at Churchill.
Marshua’s River (race 4)
Key contenders
Partisan Politics (Last 3 Beyers: 89-96-88)
* A two-back winner of the Pebbles Stakes over the Belmont Park turf, this filly comes well drawn in post 2 as one of the more highly regarded fillies on the powerful Brown shed row.
Hope Cross (Last 3 Beyers: 93-95-89)
“There’s more room for improvement. She’s been a little unlucky,” said Brown, referring primarily to a runner-up finish as the favorite last month in the South Beach Stakes at Gulfstream.
Tuttipaesi (Last 3 Beyers: 96-88-75)
* Gray mare whose past performances are filled with layoff lines might have hit a peak in her latest when storming home to capture the South Beach for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.