Weekend Racing at Del Mar : Judge Angelucci May Be Too Strong for Rivals

As Del Mar’s 48th season and 50th year reaches the final four days, the answers should be coming for these questions:

--Is Judge Angelucci a horse for all race tracks?

--Can Auspiciante win a race without sneaking up on the opposition?

--Do seven owners know what they’re doing, paying $10,000 apiece to supplement their horses for the Del Mar Futurity?

Judge Angelucci, the 4-year-old colt whose six wins this year have come at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Longacres, will try to add this venue to his list in today’s $150,000 Del Mar Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Stakes.

At a mile, the speedy Judge Angelucci appears to be too strong for his five opponents, although he carries top weight of 123 pounds and is conceding between 9 and 11 pounds to his rivals.

Weight wasn’t a factor in Judge Angelucci’s last start. In the Longacres Mile on Aug. 23, Judge Angelucci carried 121, spotting the opposition between 4 and 11 pounds, and he won by four lengths in a time of 1:34 1/5, which was just two-fifths of a second off the record for the suburban Seattle track.

Most interesting of Judge Angelucci’s opponents today is Candi’s Gold, who is stepping out of his 3-year-old division for the first time. Candi’s Gold, second to Temperate Sil in Hollywood Park’s Swaps Stakes, is carrying only 113 pounds. Trainer Eddie Gregson is using today’s race as a prep for Candi’s Gold’s appearance in the $1-million Super Derby at Louisiana Downs in two weeks, when Temperate Sil is also expected to run.

In Sunday’s $150,000 Ramona Handicap here, Auspiciante will try to become the fourth horse to repeat as the winner of the grass stake for fillies and mares. The others were Desert Trial in 1966-67, Street Dancer in 1971-72 and Queen To Conquer in 1980-81.

Auspiciante’s 1 3/4-length win in the Ramona last year came at 12-1 odds. She later won the Matriarch at Hollywood Park at 15-1 and this year she won the Beverly Hills Handicap at 12-1.

If Auspiciante wins the Ramona again Sunday, bettors will not be as fortunate. She will be carrying 120 pounds, one more than Aberuschka, who was fourth at 3-1 a year ago.

The field for the 1 1/8-mile Ramona lines up this way, with jockeys and weights:

Perfect Match, Laffit Pincay, 115; Miss Alto, Dave Patton, 113; Adorable Micol, Gary Baze, 117; Short Sleeves, Eddie Delahoussaye, 115; Ivor’s Image, Bill Shoemaker, 119; Auspiciante, Gary Stevens, 120; Festivity, Alex Solis, 117; Secuencia, Fernando Toro, 114, and Aberuschka, Chris McCarron, 119.

The Del Mar Futurity will be run for the 40th time Wednesday, which is closing day at this seaside track, and of the eight probable starters, only Accomplish Ridge can run without a $10,000 supplemental fee being paid.

The others are Bold Second, Purdue King, Mixed Pleasure, Contempt, Doctor’s Tribute, Mr. Game Player and Lost Kitty, the filly who won the Del Mar Debutante last Sunday.

Bold Second, who won his third straight when he coasted home by 5 1/2 lengths in the De Anza Stakes here Aug. 19, is likely to be the favorite.

Purdue King, winner of the Balboa Stakes Sept. 2, will also get support. Accomplish Ridge almost beat both of these horses, losing by a nose to Purdue King in the Balboa and coming in less than a length behind Bold Second Aug. 7.

Horse Racing Notes

Quinn Martin, the television producer who died of a heart attack at his Rancho Santa Fe home a week ago, won the Del Mar Futurity with Groshawk in 1972. . . . Although Gary Stevens will be missing most of the final four days of the meeting due to a stewards’ suspension, he has an insurmountable lead over Laffit Pincay for the riding championship. Since 1976, only two jockeys other than Pincay and Chris McCarron have won the riding title here. They were Pat Valenzuela and Darrel McHargue. Because of a special rule involving stakes, Stevens will be able to ride Auspiciante in the Ramona and Doctor’s Tribute in the Futurity. . . . Judge Angelucci has six wins, a second and a fourth in eight starts under trainer Charlie Whittingham. . . . Galunpe, who was weighted the same as Auspiciante for the Ramona, isn’t running because of a fever. . . . Monday’s feature race, the $50,000 Coronado, is expected to draw Tomorrow’s Child, who was second in races at Arlington Park and Monmouth Park in her last two starts. . . . Nostalgia’s Star, who ran third in the three-horse Cabrillo Handicap at Del Mar Aug. 29, is going to run in the $750,000 Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park a week from Sunday.