Doctor Mounty Makes His Move in Tropical Turf

With a come-from-behind move that stunned the Gulfstream Park audience, Doctor Mounty overtook grade 1 winner Heart to Heart in the final strides to win the Jan. 12 $100,000 Tropical Turf Stakes (G3T) over one mile. 

After closing his 5-year-old campaign with an eighth-place finish in the Dec. 15 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream, Doctor Mounty returned to the East Florida track with renewed purpose. 

It was White Flag who showed the way from the break in Saturday's test. Angled toward the rail by Jose Ortiz, White Flag put a length between himself and his closest competitor to set fractions of :23.53, :46.87, and 1:10.28 through the first six furlongs. 

Chasing on the outside in second, Holiday Stone pressed the leader as they rounded the far turn, followed by Vici, who shifted into the two path in a bid to take the lead. 

Jostled at the start and unhurried at the back of the seven-horse field, Doctor Mounty—with Javier Castellano in the irons—lagged at the rear of the pack as they entered the stretch. 

Favorite Heart to Heart, who had also been jostled at the start between Mr Freeze and Your Only Man, took the first turn too wide and settled only briefly in midpack before being angled out again four wide exiting the far turn. 

Driving hard on the outside, Heart to Heart overtook White Flag in deep stretch as the leader faded. The son of English Channel held the lead for precious seconds as Doctor Mounty made his move on the outside.

Covering an astonishing 16 lengths in the stretch, Doctor Mounty closed widest in the final yards, edging Heart to Heart and a hard-charging Your Only Man to win by a length. Final time was 1:34.62. 

"I had a great, great trip. That's what I was looking for today," Castellano said. "He broke well out of the gate, but he's a come-from-behind horse. I said, 'Let's take advantage of all the speed in the race.' The way the race unfolded worked out great for my horse. I sat behind horses and made one run."

Following a photo finish for second, Your Only Man was awarded second by a nose. Heart to Heart took third, followed by White Flag, Vici, and Holiday Stone. Mr Freeze, who was fractious in the gate and delayed the start, finished last. 

"I've been a little bit puzzled about how far he wants to run," said Doctor Mounty's trainer, Shug McGaughey. "Today, the big thing was to get him relaxed. Javier got him to relax, and when he gets that, he finishes up like he did today."

It was the first victory at Gulfstream for the 6-year-old son of Street Sense. Doctor Mounty is owned by Larry Pratt and Dave Alden.  

Bred in Kentucky by G. Watts Humphrey Jr., Susan Keller, Vicki Oliver & G. Watts Humphrey III out of the winning A.P. Indy mare On a Roll, Doctor Mounty was purchased for $170,000 by McGaughey, agent, from the consignment of Niall Brennan Stables to the 2015 Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale. He is a half brother to stakes winner Dabster and a full brother to stakes-placed Free Money. 

Doctor Mounty improved his record to 7-5-3 from 25 starts, with earnings of $419,820.