DELAHOUSSAYE COMPLETES HIS RESUME.

Byline: Michael Ventre

Normally in job interviews, a fact or two slips through the process, sometimes to the detriment of everyone involved. For instance, the telephone linesman who fails to mention his ongoing bout with vertigo. Or the neurosurgeon with the jangled nerves. Or the narcoleptic security guard.

Eddie Delahoussaye is not in this category, of course. He is a jockey with staggering credentials, including wins in the Breeders' Cup, all three Triple Crown races and, locally, the Hollywood Gold Cup and Santa Anita Derby.

In fact, his list of credits is so extensive, it is understandable that an employer might overlook one glaring omission.

On Saturday, trainer Ron McAnally wasn't aware until after the $1,000,000 Santa Anita Handicap that his winning horse, Mr Purple, was ridden by a man who had never won the race in 14 previous tries:

Eddie Delahoussaye.

"Really?" McAnally said. "I wasn't aware of that."

Said Delahoussaye to a reporter with a wink: "They don't research it like you guys."

Obviously, Delahoussaye had nothing to be embarrassed about. Martin Scorsese has never won an Oscar. Bjorn Borg never won the U.S. Open. Adlai Stevenson never won the presidency.

Now, Delahoussaye doesn't even have to worry about the single, solitary blemish on his illustrious portfolio.

Because it isn't there anymore.

"It's a great achievement to win it," said the 44-year-old Delahoussaye, a native of New Iberia, La., who is already in the racing Hall of Fame.

"I was beginning to think that this one might slip through my hands."

One of the reasons he felt that way was his taste in Big 'Cap mounts. Or maybe his agent's taste in Big 'Cap mounts. Or maybe just lousy luck. Whatever it was, Eddie D. did not have an equine advantage in most of his attempts at the Arcadia oval's showcase event.

"I've never really had good horses," he said. "Funny, I don't really know why. It's just the way it's been."

The closest Delahoussaye had gotten in previous Santa Anita Handicaps was second twice, aboard Festin in 1991 and King Go Go in 1981. In the last four years, he has done no better than fifth.

Enter Mr Purple, trained by McAnally, owned by Alex G. Campbell Jr. and sent off at 18-1 odds by a crowd of 36,498 that designated Helmsman and Afternoon Deelites as the betting favorites in lieu of injured superstar Cigar.

Mr Purple has had so many riders on his back it's a wonder somebody didn't turn him into a photo attraction at kids' birthday parties. The last was Alex Solis, who had a choice of Big 'Cap mounts and selected Dare And Go. That horse was scratched Saturday morning.

"When the money's down, he's there," McAnally said of Delahoussaye. "He's a good closing rider."

He needed to be Saturday. Mr Purple was 11th at the three-quarter pole and sixth heading into the turn, then made an astonishing charge past Serena's Song at the top of the stretch to win by two lengths.

"He really got his momentum going," Delahoussaye explained. "I knew nobody from behind would get us."

While McAnally joked that all this happened according to plan, the truth is that the plan was a brief chat that was more an endorsement of the horse than it was a strategy session.

Delahoussaye had never been on the horse prior to Saturday afternoon at approximately 3:38, not even for a workout.

"We only had perhaps 30 seconds to talk to him," McAnally said. "I told him he's a push-button horse. Very sensible. He'll do whatever you want him to do."

What the Mr Purple team wanted was a victory, of course, but not just for Delahoussaye. Campbell - a Kentuckian who has been in racing for 35 years - had never entered the race before. And McAnally has won it twice - both times with John Henry, the last one by disqualification in 1982 - but has been in the money only once since then.

"I knew the horse had a chance," Delahoussaye said. "I know anytime Ron McAnally has a horse in a big race, he has a chance."

Of course, the same can be said for Eddie Delahoussaye. His Big 'Cap futility skein notwithstanding, his reputation precedes him. After the race, on the walk from the winner's circle to the jockey's room, he was hailed repeatedly with remarks from fans like "Money man!" and "You're always there, Eddie!"

As far as the Big 'Cap goes, they did about as much checking up as the owner and trainer.

And it turned out to matter about as much.

"I had the right horse today," Delahoussaye said. "Even though he was a longshot, he was the right horse."

That the jockey is a longtime favorite may also have figured into it.