Trainer Vitali has two for Preakness undercard

Lochte (orange cap) will be going for his second graded stakes win of the year in the Dixie (SV Photography) Grade 1 winner Lochte (Medaglia d’Oro) and multiple stakes-winning three-year-old Bluegrass Singer (Bluegrass Cat) are poised to make their next starts May 16 at Pimlico on the undercard of the $1.5 million Preakness (G1). Trainer Marcus Vitali said Tuesday morning he is pointing the five-year-old Lochte to the $300,000 Dixie (G2) and Bluegrass Singer to the $100,000 James W. Murphy for sophomores, both run on the Pimlico turf. Pimlico will be the ninth different track in 25 lifetime starts for Lochte, who won two of five starts in the first three months of 2015 before getting a short break. Most recently he was seventh in the Appleton (G3) at Gulfstream Park on March 28.

“He’s doing excellent. He just worked a good half-mile and he’s coming into
the race good,” Vitali said. “I thought I’d give them all a little breather.
They had a hard campaign. We’re getting ready for the summer and we actually
backed off everything for a while.”

Lochte won the Gulfstream Park Turf H. (G1) and was second in the Frank E.
Kilroe Mile (G1) at Santa Anita in 2014. After returning to South Florida, he
captured The Vid S. in September and the Tampa Bay (G3) in January.

“I’m expecting a great race out of him. I think it’s suited for him,” Vitali
said. “We actually waited for this race and kind of pointed in that direction.
So far, so good. If he stays healthy from now until then, we’ll be there.”

Bluegrass Singer has also made five starts this year, returning from nearly
two months off to take the $75,000 Parx Derby May 2. It was the second career
stakes win for the gelding following the Mucho Macho Man, formerly the
Gulfstream Park Derby, January 3.

“It was a confidence booster for him. That was the plan,” Vitali said. “We
were going to go over for the Parx Derby. It was a little more distance than he
likes, but I thought the company might have been a little easier. We let him go
a mile and 70 yards in preparation for the Murphy.”

The one-mile Murphy will be the second time on turf for Bluegrass Singer, who
was second by 2 1/2 lengths in an allowance October 22 at Gulfstream Park West
in his only other try on grass.

Bluegrass Singer was third in the Holy Bull (G2), sixth in the Fountain of
Youth (G2) and fourth in the Swale (G2), all at Gulfstream, before his short
vacation.

“I gave him a little bit of time off, too, but I wanted to get one race into
him because he’s a younger horse,” Vitali said. “I ran him on the turf back at
(Gulfstream Park West) and I think he had a lot of potential. He’s just a good
horse. Good horses, if they’re right and happy, they run. I feel the Murphy will
be a great spot for him.”

Based at Monmouth Park for the summer, Vitali said his horses should arrive
at Pimlico by next Wednesday. Last year Vitali sent out Allstar (Flower Alley)
to a fourth-place finish in the Murphy.

“They should get there three or four days ahead of time so they can train up
there and get a look at the track,” Vitali said. “(Bluegrass Singer) is a much
better horse (than Allstar), I believe. I think we’re going to see a lot more
from him this year, as long as he stays healthy.”

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