DEL MAR : Dr. Augusta Is Fortunate This Time

After being unlucky in his debut last month because of inexperience, Dr. Augusta was somewhat fortunate to get the job done in the $79,725 Graduation Stakes Wednesday at Del Mar.

Disqualified and placed fourth after crossing the wire first against maidens on July 28, the 2-year-old Shanekite colt made amends at 6-5, with some help.

Never Round, the runner-up who was beaten by 1 3/4 lengths, may well have been the best horse in the six-furlong Graduation. The 4-1 third choice was shut off while trying to split Legal Weapon and pacesetter Fabulous Champ near the quarter pole, losing all of his momentum. At the time, he appeared to be going better than the eventual winner, and the Never Tabled colt finished well once he got clear.

“He’s green,” jockey Pat Valenzuela said of Never Round. “I drove him up on the inside and he started to go. Then, when we hit the turn, he sucked himself back out of there. But he’s all right. He closed OK.”

Dr. Augusta’s victory in 1:10 1/5 hardly came as a shock to trainer Clifford Sise Jr.

“I told people if he didn’t win today, I’d jump off (radio announcer) Bill Garr’s booth on the press box,” Sise said. “He was training real well coming in. Five days ago, we decided to put blinkers on him. I left it up to (jockey) Chris (McCarron) whether to do it or not. We worked him out of the gate (in 47 4/5 Sunday) with the blinkers on, and Chris said he never made a move.

“Chris knows how to handle him. He gets a little goofy like his father, and Chris used to ride (Shanekite).”

In his first start, Dr. Augusta broke slowly from the rail, was forced to check on the backstretch, then caused interference after taking the lead in the stretch with some broken-field running.

“The way he ran (on July 28), he ran like a horse who needed blinkers,” said McCarron. “My suggestion was not to put blinkers on, though. Young horses can learn better if you give them a couple of times without them. But they said they were planning on running him in a stakes. That’s different.

“So, you forget about the education and go for the gusto. I worked him out of the gate and he went straight as a string, and he ran that way this afternoon.”

Prospect For Four, the longest shot in the field at 22-1, rallied for third money, three-quarters of a length behind Never Round. Then came Fabulous Champ, Fax News, Legal Weapon (the 2-1 second choice on the strength of a stakes win at Santa Rosa) and Cash Legacy.

Brought To Mind, who swept the Hawthorne, Milady and Vanity handicaps at Hollywood Park, was given top weight of 123 pounds for Sunday’s Chula Vista Handicap.

Lite Light will carry 121, but she is the actual high weight when figuring in her five-pound allowance for being a 3-year-old. Idle since blowing away Meadow Star in the Coaching Club American Oaks in New York, Lite Light will work at Del Mar Friday morning.

A suitable replacement for the retired Bayakoa in Ron McAnally’s stable, Brought To Mind worked seven furlongs in 1:25 Monday. With Valenzuela scheduled to ride Filago in the Arlington Million Sunday, Alex Solis has regained the mount on Brought To Mind.

Black Monday, the upset winner of Hollywood Park’s Sunset Handicap, is among a small group of horses being pointed toward Monday’s $300,000 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on the turf.

Third in the Jim Murray Handicap before wearing down Super May in the Sunset, Black Monday will carry 115 pounds. Forty Niner Days and Wolf will be the starting high weights, each with 118.

Trainer Roger Stein had talked about running Forty Niner Days in the San Francisco Handicap the same day, but he has decided to keep the horse here. Forty Niner Days has three stakes victories in Northern California this year.

Making her second start, Brainstorming equaled Ack Ack’s 21-year-old track record for 5 1/2 furlongs when she won Wednesday’s fifth race.

A 3-year-old Relaunch filly who defeated $50,000 maidens by six lengths at Hollywood Park last month, Brainstorming beat Foxy Envoy by a half-length in 1:02 1/5. Ack Ack ran the same time on Sept. 12, 1970.

Claimed by trainer Darrell Vienna from Tom Proctor out of her first race, the gray filly won after battling through quick fractions--21 and 43 4/5--on a track that played fast Wednesday.

The victory was the fourth straight for Vienna, who had three winners Monday--Andimo, Rule the Ridge and Classy Women. The streak ended when Chief’s Image, making his first start in almost a year, ran last in the seventh race. Vienna, who was Hollywood Park’s high-percentage trainer, is nine for 29 at Del Mar.

Horse Racing Notes

Jockey Chris McCarron and trainer Clifford Sise Jr. also combined to win the fourth race Wednesday with Shanestar. . . . Best Pal, who will make his next start in the Louisiana Super Derby on Sept. 22, will work five furlongs between races here Monday.

With 12 days remaining, Pat Valenzuela leads Kent Desormeaux, 37-35, in the jockey standings. Corey Nakatani (34 victories), McCarron (31) and Gary Stevens (25) round out the top five. . . . Bob Hess and Ron McAnally top the trainers with 12 wins apiece. . . . Friday’s feature, a $55,000 classified allowance at 1 1/16 miles, has attracted Go and Go, Mister Frisky, Jovial, Raj Waki, Beirne Station and Stylish Winner.