Eddie Delahoussaye, the former leading jockey who during a 34-year career became one of the winningmost riders in US racing history, answers the questions
After riding his first winner in 1968, Louisiana-born Eddie Delahoussaye went on to become one of the most prolific winners in US racing history.
Having topped the numerical list with 384 victories in 1978, by the end of his 34-year career in the saddle he had ridden 6,834 winners and still stands 16th on the all-time list.
Delahoussaye claimed the Kentucky Derby twice on Gato Del Sol in 1982 and Sunny’s Halo in 1983; he also won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes and captured seven Breeders’ Cup races, including the Classic in 1992 on the brilliant A.P. Indy (pictured), the horse with whom he is most associated.
In a Horse of the Year campaign, A.P. Indy also numbered victories in the Santa Anita Derby and Belmont Stakes under Delahoussaye.
Winner of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1981, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame 12 years later in 1993. He was given the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award for service to horse racing in 2013.
After his retirement in January 2003, he lived in California until eight years ago when he went back to his roots and set up home in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Now 70, Delahoussaye is a commissioner of the Louisiana Racing Commission and director emeritus of the Edwin J Gregson Foundation, which works to help California’s backstretch workers and their families.
Which racing figure past or present do you most admire?
The one I most admired was Bill Shoemaker. I thought he was very unique for a man his size. He was like Lester Piggott, who was another idol of mine. I’ve seen and ridden with a lot of the best riders. There was also Willie Carson in Europe of that era who could ride anywhere in the world.
‘Shoe’ was 4ft 10ins and probably only weighed 90lb but he could do amazing things on these horses. He had the touch and the feel. I don’t think there was any other guy of his size in that era who could do what he did with horses.
Which is your favourite venue and race anywhere in the world?
I was in California most of my career and when I first went there I really enjoyed Hollywood Park, though it’s not there anymore. It had an amazing surface and I thought everything about it was spectacular. Santa Anita has such a wonderful view and the track was good too. I would have to put those two on top.
Every rider wants to win the Derby and have it on their resume. I won it twice so I have to put that race number one. The next would be the San Juan Capistrano Stakes at Santa Anita. We don’t have too many mile-and-three-quarter races but I really enjoyed riding that. I won it three times.
Who is your favourite racehorse and why?
That would be A.P. Indy. He was bought for a lot of money, but that is no guarantee of success. He was quite a special animal to be able to achieve what he did with the issues he had, such as quarter cracks. If he had had great feet, who knows what he would have done. He also turned out to be a great stallion, a stallion of stallions and a broodmare stallion. I rode him every time he ran. Neil Drysdale trained him and did a phenomenal job. He’s a great horseman; he gives horses a chance.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
I’ve had a lot, including my first Kentucky Derby win. However, the first running we had of the Arlington Million in 1981 was particularly memorable. John Henry was running and I was riding The Bart, who was a 45-1 shot. ‘Shoe’ rode John Henry and it was so close at the finish that neither of us knew who had won it.
I found out after the fact that the TV had pronounced The Bart the winner, only to have to come back and retract it a few minutes later. John Henry actually won by a nose but, not knowing what was going on at the time or who won what was the first $1 million race ever run in the US, was pretty exciting. It was a good horse race.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
There are a lot of things I would like to change and one of them would be having rules that would be to the benefit of every US horseman, ones that horsemen have input into. I don’t like having rules made by people who don’t know anything about the game.
I said that when I retired 20 years ago at Santa Anita. I think people are leaving this game because the rules aren’t made properly. Since I’ve been on the Louisiana Racing Commission we have changed rules to help racing.
We have four or five commissioners that have owned and bred horses, when they never had that before. Some places have appointees that don’t know the ins and outs of the sport. How can anyone make rulings without an understanding of racing? I think we are making progress.
Eddie Delahoussaye was speaking to Jon Lees
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