$154,000 Del Mar Derby : Vernon Castle Royally Outruns Prince Bobby B.

When Allen Paulson threw a party Saturday night for several hundred race-track types at his farm in nearby Bonsall, there was entertainment under a tent with a circus theme. The stars of the show were a couple of hammy chimpanzees.

Sunday, before 26,497 fans, Paulson’s 3-year-old colt, Vernon Castle, did a monkey act of his own in the $154,000 Del Mar Derby.

Vernon Castle aped his winning performance in the La Jolla Mile Handicap two weeks ago. The victim that time was Tripoli Shores, but this time, Vernon Castle unleashed a stretch kick that put away the speedy Prince Bobby B., as he drew off to a 2 1/2-length victory.

There was a slight variation to the winning theme. Instead of placing Vernon Castle far back, jockey Eddie Delahoussaye brought the Seattle Slew-Rullian’s Princess colt over from his next-to-outside post position at the very start.

When the nine-horse field hit the first turn, Prince Bobby B. had the lead on the rail, but Vernon Castle was not far from the fence and close behind him.

On the far turn, Delahoussaye moved closer to Prince Bobby B., who had been able to keep the lead with slow early fractions.

Frank Olivares, riding Prince Bobby B., looked over his right shoulder and saw Vernon Castle coming. Olivares found an extra gear and Prince Bobby B. briefly spurted away from his challenger, but it was only a matter of time.

At the top of the stretch, Olivares and Prince Bobby B. couldn’t resist Vernon Castle’s charge any longer. Vernon Castle breezed past Prince Bobby B. and had plenty left in the run to the wire.

Vernon Castle, running the 1 1/8 miles on the grass in 1:48 2/5 under top-weighted handicap conditions of 123 pounds, earned $95,500 for his owners, who, besides Paulson, are Dick Duchossois, Nelson Bunker Hunt and Franklin Groves, who bred the colt.

Vernon Castle, bought by the group in a package of horses for an undisclosed sum, now has four wins and two seconds in eight lifetime starts, with purses of $352,000.

Prince Bobby B., the second choice in the betting behind Vernon Castle at 2-1, was second by 1 lengths over Mazaad and it was 1 lengths farther back to Tripoli Shores.

Vernon Castle paid $4.60, $2.80 and $2.80, and the other mutuels were $3.80 and $3.20 for Prince Bobby B. and $3.00 for Mazaad.

Delahoussaye has now ridden the winners of the last three stakes at Del Mar, scoring Saturday with American Legion in the Bing Crosby Handicap and clicking last Wednesday with Bold Jade in the De Anza.

The meeting started inauspiciously for Delahoussaye, who was unseated by a horse in a race on opening day.

Delahoussaye had a scare here a year ago, escaping serious injury when a horse broke down, but Sunday’s win was his fourth stakes victory of the season, one more than Chris McCarron, who was away at Saratoga and didn’t ride in the Del Mar Derby.

“When I got to the middle of the turn,” Delahoussaye said Sunday, “Prince Bobby B. accelerated, but he did the same thing at Golden Gate (when Vernon Castle won the California Derby) and we beat him that day, so I wasn’t worried.

“I thought there would be more speed. I was surprised to be second early. When I reached and hit him left-handed at the top of the stretch, he really took off.”

Prince Bobby B., carrying four fewer pounds than Vernon Castle, had skipped Vernon Castle and the La Jolla after winning a smaller stake, the Oceanside, at Del Mar on opening day.

“I thought I had it won,” Olivares said. “We were absolutely walking early. I thought I could run away from Vernon Castle at the far turn. I was surprised to see how quickly he caught me in the stretch.”

Vernon Castle’s bloodlines are not rife with grass runners, although there is Prince John, the sire of the dam, and further back there is Poker, who was a son of Round Table, a three-time grass champion.

“He doesn’t have a (big) foot that reminds you of a grass runner, but he can sure run on the stuff,” trainer John Sullivan said. Vernon Castle wasn’t introduced to grass until he ran four races on dirt, the last a 15th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

The plans for Vernon Castle are indefinite, but one of the options is the $300,000 Del Mar Handicap on Sept. 1. That’s a race that was switched from dirt to grass this year, as though Del Mar was thinking about a grass lover like Vernon Castle.

Horse Racing Notes

When Flying Newsboy and Laffit Pincay were disqualified from first to fifth place in Sunday’s sixth race for interference in the stretch, it was the fifth inquiry by the stewards in the last two days. Pincay had won the previous three races Sunday, surviving a foul claim by jockey Russell Baze to keep the victory aboard Infantryman in the third race. . . . Brave Raj, a troubled second to Footy in her last start, will oppose that 2-year-old filly again today in the Sorrento Stakes. Also in the 10-horse field is Saros Brig, who is undefeated in two starts after her win at Del Mar on July 25.

Groovy is where he belongs, sprinting instead of running in races like the Kentucky Derby. The 3-year-old colt, who ran 16th and last at Churchill Downs, became the first horse to beat Phone Trick earlier this summer and on Sunday he beat Turkoman by 4 3/4 lengths in the Forego Handicap at Saratoga. It was Turkoman’s first start since late May. Innamorato, who had been scheduled to run a week ago at Saratoga but was scratched because he ran off during a morning workout, finished third. . . . Turkoman gave Chris McCarron his second straight second in an Eastern stake, the California jockey having ridden Precisionist in his runner-up finish to Roo Art in Saturday’s Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park. McCarron, who will be back at Del Mar to ride Footy today, began his trip East with a win aboard Sacahuista in the Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga on Thursday.

Jockey Gary Stevens, who was hit by a five-day suspension last week, regains the mount on Persevered in next Saturday’s Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga. Because of the suspension, Stevens was unable to ride Persevered, who under Angel Cordero won the Sanford Stakes last Wednesday at Saratoga. Cordero will ride the top 2-year-old Gulch in the Hopeful. . . . Stevens will be in Chicago Tuesday to ride Clear Choice in the Arlington Classic. Also scheduled to run in the Arlington Park race is Cheapskate, the St. Paul Derby winner who is owned by Jim Vandervoort of Rancho Mirage.

Trainer Jerry Fanning said that a decision would be made by owner Dan Agnew today on whether Top Corsage runs in next Sunday’s Del Mar Oaks or in one of two stakes at Arlington Park. . . . Trainer Charlie Whittingham said he would run two fillies in the Oaks--Hidden Light, winner of the Hollywood Oaks, and Kraemer. . . . After Lady’s Secret’s third-place finish against males in Saturday’s Iselin, trainer Wayne Lukas said the 4-year-old filly would return to her own division. . . . Lady’s Secret is being pointed toward the three Belmont Park races--the Maskette, the Ruffian Handicap and the Beldame--that she swept last year.