The Californian : They All Overlooked Judge Angelucci, Who Goes Wire to Wire

For weeks, it was Charlie Whittingham versus Mel Stute, each trainer trying to get his horse in the best possible shape.

For days, it was Bill Shoemaker versus Alex Solis, each jockey trying to prepare himself for the confrontation ahead.

For hours, it was 28,522 fans versus themselves, each trying to figure which of eight horses would win The Californian, Sunday’s $300,000-added feature race at Hollywood Park.

For 1:48 1/5, it was Ferdinand versus Snow Chief, each trying to beat the other and the rest of the field to the wire.

But in the end, despite all the planning and preparation, despite all the analyzing and agonizing, the only winners were those who had looked beyond the ninth of the Ferdinand-Snow Chief confrontations and had picked a different horse to win.

Because it was Judge Angelucci, not Ferdinand or Snow Chief, who won the 34th running of The Californian. Sent off at 18 to 1, the 4-year-old chestnut colt led from start to finish to give jockey Gary Baze the biggest win of his career and his first Grade I victory.

“I don’t think he’s run against this caliber of horses before,” a jubilant Baze said afterward, “but he’s been training really, really strong. And that’s horse racing. You never know what’s going to happen.

“Sometime a horse gets out there and gets the lead and nobody runs at him early and you have enough left to hang on.”

Owned by Olin B. Gentry and trained by Whittingham, Judge Angelucci won by one length from another longshot, the roan gelding Iron Eyes, who edged Snow Chief by a nose for second place. Ferdinand finished another 2 3/4 lengths behind in fourth.

Judge Angelucci paid $38.60, $15.60 and $10.40; runnerup Iron Eyes, who went off at almost 17 to 1, paid $9.40 and $5.20, and the Stute-trained Snow Chief, who had gone off as the second-favorite to Ferdinand, paid $4.20 to show.

Rounding out the field in order of finish were Ferdinand, Tasso, Sabona, Nostalgia’s Star and Grecian Wonder, who went lame during the race and was pulled up by jockey Gary Stevens.

The first two finishers were giving 8 and 11 pounds, respectively, to the two favorites, who each carried 126 pounds. But it was not the difference in weight that Whittingham felt decided the outcome.

“He (Ferdinand) stumbled out of the gate and he never picked it up,” Whittingham said. “That was the end of that.”

Shoemaker agreed, but also said Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, did not feel altogether himself and that the stumbling did not help.

“It might have bothered him, but during the running of the race he had no excuse,” Shoemaker said. “He had good position all the way and plenty of room. (But) he didn’t finish real good like he has done.”

As for Judge Angelucci, who was making only his 10th start and whose only previous stakes victory came in the San Bernardino Handicap in April (when Iron Eyes also finished second), Whittingham said the plan had been to send him to the lead right away.

“He runs on the front, so I sent him out there,” Whittingham said. “He’s always got a chance. On this track, speed carries. Nobody ran with him, they let him go, so . . . “

So Judge Angelucci won for the fifth time, picking up $193,200 to more than double his career earnings. Whittingham said the colt will be aimed at the Hollywood Gold Cup June 28.

As for Iron Eyes, owned and trained by Carolyn Charles, the strong stretch run that caught Snow Chief just before the wire made it a $60,000 pay day. Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye wasn’t surprised.

“He has a rough way of going, that son of a gun,” Delahoussaye said. “But he keeps running. I guess that’s his way of going.

“She (Charles) wasn’t quite sure if he’d be tight enough, but she gave him a lot of long works. She did a good job.

“If he’d have broke running--he broke kind of cock-eyed and I didn’t rush him--he’d have been laying there second easy. I don’t say he’d have won, but he’d have wound up second a little easier.

“He’s a hard-trying horse. Every race he runs he’s consistent. That’s the kind of horse anybody likes to own. He keeps picking up those checks. He’ll jump up and win a stake one of these days.”

Solis, despite finishing third, was not unhappy with Snow Chief’s performance.

“He ran good,” Solis said. Everything came up perfect for us. He stumbled a little coming out of the gate but he was laying perfect (on Judge Angelucci’s shoulder through most of the race).

“At the 3/8-pole, I went after the horse who was on the lead. He moved good but the other horse was real game and he (Snow Chief) got a little tired.”

As a result, thoroughbred racing’s leading money-winner in training could add only $45,000 to his lifetime earnings of $3,338,210. For Stute, there might have been some consolation in that, and the fact that for the sixth time in nine meetings Snow Chief had been able to finish ahead of Ferdinand.

But on an overcast Sunday afternoon, neither were able to finish ahead of Judge Angelucci and Iron Eyes.

Horse Racing Notes

The Californian field was reduced to eight Sunday morning with the surprise withdrawal of Al Mamoon. “I drew a bad post (No. 8)) so I said the hell with it,” trainer Bobby Frankel said. “I’ll run him again in the American (Handicap, July 4). Al Mamoon, who won the John Henry Handicap on May 10, has won 11 races on the grass but is 0 for 7 on the dirt, a fact that may have influenced Frankel’s decision. . . . Post position, however, should not, in itself, have been the deciding factor in Al Mamoon’s withdrawal, given racing secretary Eual Wyatt’s decision to start and end the race at the old wire. “By starting at the old wire, horses will have a longer run into the first turn,” Wyatt told the Daily Racing Form. “We feel that this will offer starters an equal chance to gain a good position going into the first turn, regardless of draw.”

On The Line, who won the Derby Trial in impressive fashion at Churchill Downs on April 25 but who could finish no better than 10th a week later in the Kentucky Derby, returned to the winner’s circle Sunday. The Wayne Lukas-trained colt, who finished fourth under Chris McCarron in the Will Rogers Handicap two weeks ago, easily won The Roving Boy, the third race on Sunday’s Hollywood Park card. Ridden by Gary Stevens, On The Line covered the 1 1/16 miles on the dirt in 1:43 4/5. The Medic, with McCarron aboard, finished second, while Eddie Delahoussaye brought Spotlight Handicap winner Davids Smile home third.

Trainer Mel Stute, pleased with Very Subtle’s victory under Bill Shoemaker Saturday in the Railbird Stakes, said the filly will be pointed toward the Grade I Hollywood Oaks on July 12. Very Subtle’s win, incidentally, was Shoemaker’s 975th in a stakes race. . . . Laffit Pincay, who scored his 40th victory of the meeting Sunday, continues to lead the jockey standings, while Richard Mandella, ith 17 wins, is still atop the trainer standings.