Tannery gets 10-pound weight break from Lochte in Monmouth Stakes

There is quite a bit of past class in Sunday’s Grade 2 Monmouth Stakes, with a handful of horses capable of winning if they can locate their form of old. But the two most upwardly mobile runners in the group are Lochte, who comes in off three Grade 1 starts, and the long-winded mare Tannery, who should be a force within her division this year.

The $200,000 Monmouth, a 1 1/8-mile turf race, is the local stepping-stone to the Grade 1 United Nations on July 6. Sixteen entered, but only 14 can start.

Lochte has proved a bargain buy for the New England duo of owner Carolyn Vogel and trainer Marcus Vitali. A $475,000 yearling in 2011, Lochte was still a maiden when Vogel snapped him up for $60,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale last October.

After knocking out maiden and first-level optional-claiming wins, he pulled off a 39-1 stunner in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap. In two starts since, he has finished second to leading West Coast miler Winning Prize in the Kilroe Mile and third to Wise Dan in the Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland.

“He just got good at the right time,” said Vitali, 53, who raced at Suffolk Downs for years but has spent the last few winters in south Florida. “I gave him a breather after the race at Keeneland. He’s run in three Grade 1’s in a row, all of which I think were successful. He’s not a real big horse, and I want to keep him going forward.”

Lochte has tactical speed and should be able to stalk an expected realistic pace, possibly set by Slim Shadey and Hard Enough. Factors he will have to overcome include a layoff of almost two months and that he is one of four horses in the lineup who will carry the top weight of 123 pounds, conceding 10 pounds to Tannery.

“I wish the race was longer, but she’s getting 10 pounds, which is a lot,” said Alan Goldberg, who trains Tannery. “I’m trying to get her to the Diana. There’s the New York at 1 1/4 miles on the 28th and then the Diana.”

It should be noted that Goldberg and owner Richard Santulli won last year’s Diana and Flower Bowl Invitational with Laughing, an Eclipse Award finalist in the filly-and-mare turf division.

Tannery, like Laughing, is an Irish-bred who began her career in her native land. Now 5, the Monmouth will be the third time Tannery has faced males since being imported.

“It doesn’t seem to bother her,” Goldberg said. “I think she got what she needed out of the last race. She’s doing very well.”

Tannery began her season in an overnight turf stakes at Monmouth in which the fractions were slow early and quick late. Her winning margin was only a head, but she was given a confident ride by Julian Pimentel and looked strong in winning. The mount goes to Victor Carrasco on Sunday.

Other contenders in the field are Guys Reward, who can be a handful when he fires his best shot, as he did in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes in February, and Admiral Kitten, who won the Grade 1 Secretariat last summer and the Grade 3 Connally Turf Cup at Sam Houston in January.

Wicked Tune tops McSorley

Also on Sunday’s card is the $60,000 John McSorley, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint.

The 7-year-old Wicked Tune was a two-time winner at Gulfstream this past winter for trainer Jane Cibelli and figures to be prominent from the outside post in the nine-horse field. Wicked Tune, 11 for 35 in his career, earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure while winning the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint in February, which fits well here. John Velazquez has been named to ride. Velazquez will be aboard Tricky Hat for Shug McGaughey in the Monmouth Stakes.

Other contenders include Strong Impact, claimed out of a winning effort for $80,000 in his last start by David Jacobson, and Jewel of a Cat, a 4-year-old filly trained by Ben Perkins Jr. who was fourth in The Very One Stakes on the Preakness undercard last time out.