$297,350 Del Mar Debutante : Lea Lucinda Takes First With Help of Ruling

Alex Solis, who rode Approved To Fly across the finish line ahead of the field in Sunday’s $297,350 Del Mar Debutante, stood with disbelief in the jockey’s room and watched the replay over and over.

Moments earlier, trainer Victor L. Garcia had been interrupted during his post-race interview with the media.

Race announcer Trevor Denman reported the bad news for all to hear.

“Ladies and gentleman, the stewards have ruled that No. 3 Approved to Fly has been disqualified for impeding the progress of No. 7 Lea Lucinda in the stretch and placed second.”

Garcia put his hands over his head and tears welled up in his eyes. His victory speech was over.

The final official results: Lea Lucinda first, Approved To Fly second.

And now for the irony of all ironies in this inquiry.

Trainer Wayne Lukas, who had stalked off after being asked about the poor performance of his favored One Of A Klein, was presented with his sixth Del Mar Debutante victory in seven years as the trainer of Lea Lucinda.

“My horse only moved out a little bit,” Solis said as he watched the race for a fourth, then fifth time. “You could hardly see it on the television.”

Yet, Solis kept looking. Here’s what he saw:

Approved To Fly turned for home in the one-mile race with a slight lead over the tiring favorite, One Of A Klein.

Solis shook his horse free for a moment in the middle of the track, but jockey Gary Stevens rushed Lea Lucinda up to challenge with 200 yards to go.

Solis whipped his horse left-handed and Approved To Fly drifted out. Lea Lucinda broke stride for just a moment and Approved To Fly went on home, finishing first by a half-length.

“Right when (Approved To Fly) moved out, I felt I was going to go by her,” Stevens said.

Lucas, who won with Lost Kitty in the Debutante last year, said: “When I saw the incident in the stretch, I thought we had a chance to win it. I went to Gary after the race and said, ‘What about that?’ He said he thought we’d get this one. I was watching my other horse (One Of A Klein) and when she started to fade in the stretch, I moved over to Lea Lucinda just as the swerving incident happened.”

Lea Lucinda paid $17.40 to win, $7.40 to place and $4.60 to show. Approved To Fly returned $7.40 and $5.80. Beware Of The Cat paid $8 to show. One Of A Klein finished fifth.

Solis, meanwhile, watched the replay again. And Approved To Fly drifted out again.

“That’s racing,” he said. “It’s just too bad it had to happen in this race.”

Del Mar Notes

Native Paster, a 4-year-old daughter of former Del Mar Futurity winner Flying Paster, set a world record of 1:13 3/5 seconds for 6 1/2 furlongs in winning the third race Sunday. In winds measured at 20 to 30 miles per hour, Native Paster bettered the standard of 1:13 4/5 shared by Best Hitter in 1973 and Trooper Seven in 1980. Both previous record-holders set their marks at Longacres in Seattle. Native Paster’s fractions were 21 2/5 for a quarter-mile, 43 1/5 for a half-mile, and 1:07 2/5 for six furlongs. Ridden by Gary Stevens, Native Paster finished 4 lengths ahead of Charmed One and paid $3.80 to win. The previous track record at Del Mar for 6 1/2 furlongs was 1:14 2/5 set by Santa Rosa Prince in 1985.

Sir Harry Lewis, a winner in 4 of 13 career starts including a victory in an overnight handicap at Del Mar Aug. 19, has been assigned high weight of 121 pounds for today’s 49th running of the $300,000 Del Mar Handicap. Swink, who won the 1 3/8-mile test on the turf last year, and Santella Mac, who finished second, are also entered in a wide-open field that includes Golden Gate Handicap winner Great Communicator and Sunset Handicap runner up Putting. . . . Trainer Laz Barrera confirmed Sunday that 1987 Kentucky Oaks winner Buryyourbelief had to be destroyed after breaking down in the fifth race Saturday. Barrera said that Buryyourbelief broke her knee in 20 places.

By riding four winners Sunday, Gary Stevens improved his lead in the jockey standings to 12 over Eddie Delahoussaye. Stevens, who won the jockey championship here last year, has 50 wins to Delahoussaye’s 38. Russell Baze is third with 33 wins followed by the meet’s biggest surprise, Alex Solis, with 32. . . . Marcus Allen of the Raiders had a little better day Sunday than the horse named for him. Allen scored two touchdowns in the Raiders’ 24-13 win over the San Diego Chargers. Raider Marcus, a 3-year-old colt, was the 8-5 favorite in the fourth race but finished fourth.