Major Impact and Blacksburg Victorious in Oceanside Stakes : Del Mar: Lavin repeats as a big winner on first day of the meeting; Lukas ends a protracted slump.

The grandstand might have been something new at Del Mar race track, but there was not much different Wednesday about the running of the Oceanside Stakes, the track’s opening-day feature.

A year ago, the first division of the Oceanside was won by Repriced, a son of Roberto owned by Leonard Lavin and trained by Willard Proctor.

On Wednesday, with a crowd of 26,982 on hand in 85-degree weather, Major Impact, another 3-year-old son of Roberto, flashed to a 1 1/2-length victory under Gary Stevens, sending Lavin and his trainer to the winner’s circle once again.

Lavin’s stable led the Del Mar standings in purses in 1979, the year his Relaunch won the Del Mar Derby, but last year, despite having won the first stake of the meeting, the Lavin outfit did not finish in the top 10 in earnings.

“This year, we’re going to finish strong too,” said Lavin, the 72-year-old head of the Illinois-based Alberto-Culver Co. Minutes after the Oceanside, the owner and Proctor were talking about this year’s Del Mar Derby, on Aug. 29, with Lavin lamenting the fact that he will be in Australia on a business trip that day.

Proctor, 76, who has undergone open-heart surgery since he won with Repriced a year ago, has been training for Lavin for more than 20 years, beating Typecast with Convenience in the $250,000, winner-take-all match race at Hollywood Park in 1972.

The second half of the Oceanside ended the longest dry spell that Wayne Lukas has had since his nine-year hold on national training honors began in 1983.

Lukas’ Blacksburg, who dropped out of the Triple Crown picture quickly last winter with two last-place finishes in Florida, made his third start on grass and registered his second triumph. It was Lukas’ first stakes victory on the Southern California circuit since Cuddles won the Santa Lucia Handicap at Santa Anita on March 21.

Leading by four lengths under Kent Desormeaux with half a mile to go, Blacksburg never slowed and beat the second-place finisher, Phone Roberto, by five. Appealtothechief finished third, a head behind Phone Roberto. River Majesty, the favored French horse, never fired in his American debut.

Major Impact ran the slower of the Oceanside divisions, covering a mile in 1:35 4/5. Alta Blue, also a late-running colt, finished second, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of L’Honorable. Major Impact, who now has three victories, a second and three thirds in seven starts, all this year, was sent off as the favorite in a nine-horse field and paid $4.40 to win.

“I felt very confident about this colt,” Stevens said. “Willard is an old-time horseman who really knows his stuff, and he had a lot of confidence in him too. I kept him outside and out of trouble and pointed him in the right direction. He’s getting better and better, and going the right way.”

Blacksburg, a son of Seattle Slew and the Alleged mare, Devil’s Sister, was timed in 1:34 4/5 and paid $18.80 to win. He had won just one of seven starts, an allowance race at Churchill Downs, before Wednesday.

Major Impact did not race as a 2-year-old, for no reason other than he was a slow developer, according to Lavin and Proctor.

Lavin sidestepped a question about what he thought about the rebuilt Del Mar, which is halfway through an $80-million program that won’t be finished for another year or two.

“Ask the fans what they think of the place,” Lavin said, finally adding: “I liked the charm of the old place.”

Some of the fans sitting behind the large pillars that hold up the new six-story grandstand complained about their sight lines, and Joe Harper, president of Del Mar, said the track would be giving refunds to some season ticket-holders.

The new attraction hardly affected the opening-day attendance, which was about 800 more than last year’s.

“I only walked into one closet,” Harper said. “But that was a significant mistake, because I had some of the (California Horse Racing Board’s) commissioners behind me. They weren’t buying the act that I was just trying to show them a closet.”

Horse Racing Notes

Blacksburg raced with cotton in his ears. “I thought with the crowd and all the excitement, it might bother him,” Wayne Lukas said. “But it didn’t seem to, he saddled fine. We have a nice set of horses here. We should do well. Historically, this has been a good meeting for us.” . . . In other respects, the Del Mar season began much the way the Hollywood Park meeting ended, with the leading horsemen, jockey Kent Desormeaux and trainer Bob Hess Jr., winning three and two races, respectively.

A.P. Indy, who might use Del Mar for his first start since winning the Belmont Stakes in early June, has had an ownership change, with his breeders, Will Farish and W.S. Kilroy, and Harold Goodman reportedly taking over a 50% interest. A.P. Indy had been racing for one owner, Tomonori Tsurumaki, the Tokyo land developer whose businesses are reportedly experiencing difficulties. . . . Trainer Brian Mayberry, who has the deepest group of 2-year-olds in the country, has entered three fillies--Blue Moonlight, Don’t Ignore and Zealous Faith--in Friday’s $75,000 Junior Miss Stakes. Others in the field running six furlongs include Anybody’s Natural, Best Dress, Dance for Vanny, Fleet Anna and Abundance of Grace. . . . Saratoga opened Wednesday with Mayberry’s 2-year-old filly, Lily La Belle, running third behind Distinct Habit and Tourney in the $120,800 Schuylerville Stakes.