Lochte Scores in Soggy Tropical Turf 'Cap

Since moving down to Florida in September, Crossed Sabres Farm's Lochte has been unbeatable. He continued his streak Nov. 21 at Gulfstream Park West, claiming the $100,000 Tropical Turf Handicap (gr. IIIT) in the middle of a downpour.



It was the 5-year-old Medaglia d'Oro   gelding's third straight win, following scores in the Spider John Stakes Oct. 25 at Gulfstream Park West and the Mr. Steele Stakes Sept. 27 at Gulfstream Park.



In the Tropical Turf, Lochte raced in third, splashing over the grass as Inchcape ran a quarter in :25.37 and a half in :53.19 on the lead. Flashlight, who had tracked in second, took the lead momentarily through six furlongs in 1:18.87, but was no match for Lochte in the stretch of the 1 1/16-mile race.



"I couldn't have asked for a better trip. I kind of just stayed in the best part of the track, which was the three path, it seemed like," winning jockey Matthew Rispoli said. "I just sat against him the whole way and coming to the three-eighths pole, I felt like I was driving a Ferrari to tell you the truth."



The eventual winner blew by on the outside and pulled clear to win by four lengths, ahead of Flashlight. Longshot Amigo closed for third, 1 1/4 lengths back. Lochte hit the wire in 1:50.95.



Trained by Marcus Vitali, Lochte paid $8, $4.40, and $3.20 across the board. Flashlight brought $10.80 and $5.80, while Amigo returned $14 to show.



"Everything went good. He broke good and had a good trip," Vitali said. "That's my theory. I tell you guys every time—trip, trip, trip. Everything went his way today. I just didn't want him getting in a lot of trouble. Horses start slipping and sliding—you know how turf races go. Anything can happen, and I figured (it would be best) if we were up out of trouble early.



"He's kind of a horse that you can put where you want him. I do like to usually tuck him in behind horses and let him make one big run. Matt made the right decisions and the outcome was a good one"

Key to Power finished an even fourth, followed by favored All Included, Kharafa, Inchcape, Take the Stand, and Good and Proper, to complete the order of finish.



Bred in Kentucky by Maura Gittins out of the Lemon Drop Kid   mare Lemon Kiss, Lochte now has a 9-5-6 record from 32 starts, with earnings of $755,767. The Tropical Turf was the gelding's third graded score, following the Jan. 14 Tampa Bay Stakes (gr. IIIT) and last year's Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (gr. IT).