DELAHOUSSAYE HAS DERBY ON THE BRAIN.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with ARCADIA - Eddie Delahoussaye Edward J. Delahoussaye (born September 21 1951) was an American thoroughbred jockey from New Iberia, Louisiana. He began his career in 1968 and in ten short years became the top American jockey with 384 wins. doesn't like the way the California thoroughbred racing industry is going and what it means for a 50-year-old jockey, and he says he would walk away from the sport right now if it wasn't for one thing. Which is? ``Well, a horse like this,'' Delahoussaye said with a smile on Thursday in the Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
What keeps Delahoussaye riding is the same thing that keeps a lot of otherwise disheartened dis·heart·en tr.v. dis·heart·ened, dis·heart·en·ing, dis·heart·ens To shake or destroy the courage or resolution of; dispirit. See Synonyms at discourage. horsemen coming back to the racetrack - a 3-year-old like Perfect Drift Perfect Drift, (foaled April 29, 1999 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred gelding racehorse. He is sired by the leading stud,Dynaformer, out of the Naskra mare, Nice Gal. This makes Perfect Drift a half-brother to 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro. and the chance to win a Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. . Delahoussaye won the Kentucky Derby in 1982 with Gato del Sol Gato Del Sol (February 23 1979 – August 7, 2007) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was foaled at Stone Farm in Paris, Kentucky, the son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Cougar II, and out of the mare Peacefully whose grandsire was Bold Ruler, another Hall of and in 1983 with Sunny's Halo Sunny's Halo (February 11, 1980 - June 3, 2003) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who became only the second Canadian-bred to win the Kentucky Derby and who as of 2006 is the all-time leading sire by progeny earnings in the state of Texas. , making him only the fourth jockey to do it back to back. The Arcadia resident would like to win again before retiring to a life of golf and more golf. ``It's exciting,'' Delahoussaye said of his hopes for May 4, when this year's Derby will be run at Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. in Louisville, Ky. ``It's a lot of fun, knowing you have a chance.'' Delahoussaye hasn't felt this way about his Derby horse in a decade, since A.P. Indy went to Churchill only to be scratched because of a foot injury on the morning of the race. ``I'm not saying he's going to win it,'' Delahoussaye said of Perfect Drift, ``but I'm saying he has a good chance.'' He certainly has. Perfect Drift, a gelded geld 1 tr.v. geld·ed or gelt , geld·ing, gelds 1. To castrate (a horse, for example). 2. To deprive of strength or vigor; weaken. son of Dynaformer whose Kentucky-based trainer Murray Johnson is little-known here, jumped into Derby contention March 23 when Delahoussaye rallied him from sixth place to a photo-finish victory over Azillion and Request for Parole in the 1 1/8-mile Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky. Since then, Perfect Drift has taken the unusual approach of sitting on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. while other Derby candidates have been running in major prep races such as the Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. , Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. and Wood Memorial. Not since Needles in 1956 has a horse won the Derby after not running a race in April. Delahoussaye and other Perfect Drift fans hope the six-week layoff will make him a fresh horse compared to the rivals who have been knocking themselves in an effort to earn places in the Derby field. They also hope his come-from-behind style, displayed in an approximately 12-second final eighth of a mile in the Spiral, will be a plus in a 1 1/4-mile Derby populated by horses who plodded home in their preps. Perfect Drift hasn't been directly tested for class, not having raced against any of the most popular Derby contenders. It's interesting to note, though, that Request for Parole, with whom Perfect Drift has been trading photo finishes at Turfway, twice has run solid seconds to early Derby favorite Harlan's Holiday. ``That kind of gives you an idea where my horse stands,'' Delahoussaye said. ``He's got a legitimate chance in there.'' Delahoussaye rode Perfect Drift for the first time in the Spiral, taking over from Tony D'Amico. Delahoussaye has known Johnson since the Australian-born trainer worked in California as an assistant to John Gosden. For a while in 1991, Delahoussaye was the regular rider of Johnson's Green Alligator alligator, large aquatic reptile of the genus Alligator, in the same order as the crocodile. There are two species—a large type found in the S United States and a small type found in E China. Alligators differ from crocodiles in several ways. , who won the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields is a horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the and ran fourth in the Kentucky Derby under Corey Nakatani. In the early 1990s, Delahoussaye was old enough to pile up honors such as membership in the racing Hall of Fame (1993) and milestones like $100 million in career purses (1991), but he was young enough to remain among the Southern California circuit's most active and productive big-race jockeys. Later in the decade, a sinus problem forced Delahoussaye to cut back on his schedule, in part because it made air travel untenable. His health hasn't been a problem for the past couple of years. Racing's health is his biggest concern these days. Delahoussaye said that since the start of the year, he has been seriously considering retirement. ``I don't like what I'm seeing in California, with the short fields and shortage of horses,'' Delahoussaye said before riding four horses on Santa Anita's eight-race card Thursday, winning the nightcap night·cap n. 1. A usually alcoholic drink taken just before bedtime. 2. Sports & Games The last event in a day's competition, especially the final game in a baseball double-header. 3. aboard Chory Four ($11). ``Hollywood (Park, which opens Wednesday) is going to indicate a lot what's going to happen in the next few months, how we're going to stand. Let's face it, we don't have (a lot of) horses here. ``There's a lot of top riders, and I'm one of the senior riders, and I don't want to ride the cheaper horses, so that's going to hurt my business.'' Delahoussaye said that one day, fans might show up at Hollywood Park, Del Mar or Santa Anita to discover that he has withdrawn from his riding assignments and abruptly retired. ``I didn't have a welcoming tour when I came here (in 1979), so why should I have a farewell tour?'' the Louisiana native said. What would sustain him is an upsurge in the number of good horses available for him to ride. Or winning the Kentucky Derby with Perfect Drift. ``Then we'd keep going,'' Delahoussaye said. --First Saturday in Maybe: Listed by Churchill Downs as Kentucky Derby hopefuls are Blue Burner, Buddha, Came Home, Castle Gandolfo, Easy Grades, Essence of Dubai, Harlan's Holiday, It'sallinthechase, Johannesburg, Lusty lust·y adj. lust·i·er, lust·i·est 1. Full of vigor or vitality; robust. 2. Powerful; strong: a lusty cry. 3. Lustful. 4. Merry; joyous. Latin, Medaglia d'Oro, Ocean Sound, Perfect Drift, Private Emblem, Request for Parole, Saarland, War Emblem, Wild Horses, USS Tinosa, and two horses who stand to be excluded from a 20-horse field by the graded-stakes earnings qualifier, Sunday Break and Tracemark. Easyfromthegetgo, Ethan Man, Officer or Tails of the Crypt could earn a Derby bid by winning the 1 1/16-mile Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday. --The long goodbye: The Santa Anita season ends Sunday after the 63rd running of the $400,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap The San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap is an American invitational handicap thoroughbred horse race run annually on turf at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. In its 69th running in 2008, it was first run as an invitational handicap in 1965 and as a Grade IIT currently , whose 1 3/4-mile route down the hill and around the turf oval makes it the United States' longest graded handicap race. Hollywood Park begins a 65-day season Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. The Capistrano is a rematch among Continental Red (117 pounds), Keemoon (114), Speedy Pick (112) and Ringaskiddy (114), who finished in that order - only half a length apart - in the 1 1/2-mile San Luis Rey. Also expected for the race are Cagney, Staging Post and Chelsea Barracks. A late possibility is Dispersed Reward, a 4-year-old filly. Keemoon, a 6-year-old mare ridden by Santa Anita leader Alex Solis and trained by Neil Drysdale, defeated males in her native France but is 0 for 4 against males in this country. In its rich history, the Capistrano has been won by females twice, most recently in 1975 by La Zanzara, ridden by Donald Pierce and trained by Charlie Whittingham. OUT OF THE GATE SANTA ANITA STANDINGS Through Wednesday Jockeys Wins Alex Solis 74 Kent Desormeaux 63 Laffit Pincay 63 Victor Espinoza 56 Chris McCarron 46 Pat Valenzuela 36 Trainers Wins Bob Baffert 43 Bill Spawr 31 Bobby Frankel 27 Bruce Headley 21 Jack Carava 17 Richard Mandella 16 Darrell Vienna 16 ON THE STAKES SCHEDULE Santa Anita Today --$100,000 Valiant Pete Handicap, 4-year-olds and up, California-breds, 6 furlongs Saturday --$250,000 Santa Barbara Handicap The Santa Barbara Handicap is a race for Thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-quarter miles on the turf. The Grade IIT Santa Barbara offers a purse of $200,000. , 4-year-olds and up, fillies and mares, 1 1/4 miles on turf Sunday --$400,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap, 4-year-olds and up, 1 3/4 miles on turf --$125,000 San Simeon Handicap The San Simeon Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses. It is raced each year at Santa Anita Park. The race is open to four year olds and up willing to race six and a half furlongs on the downhill turf course. The race is a Grade III event with a purse of $100,000. , 4-year-olds and up, 6 1/2 furlongs on turf Bay Meadows Saturday --$55,000 San Jose Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 1 mile Keeneland Saturday --$325,000 Lexington Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles A WEEK AT THE RACES At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. Alex Solis, with an 11-victory lead through Wednesday, seems to have clinched his third Santa Anita jockeys championship even though he'll miss four of the season's last five cards. Solis was at Keeneland on Wednesday to ride Royal Gem to third place in the Forerunner Stakes. He began a three-day suspension Thursday stemming from the disqualification of Go for Greed from second to fourth Saturday. ... Fox Sports Net 2 will carry Television Games Network programming from 3-5 p.m. on most days and 7-9 p.m. on Fridays starting when Hollywood Park opens Wednesday. Viewers will see four races live from Hollywood Park, a potential boon for TVG's telephone and online wagering services. ... Hollywood Park's 10-race program for California-bred horses will be known as Cal Fed Gold Cup Day for the next three years under an agreement between the Inglewood track and the San Francisco-based bank. The event will be held this season on April 28, the first Sunday of the Hollywood Park season. You know what this means: trophy presentations by Elvis Schmiedekamp. ... Los Alamitos jockey Duane Brown, who fractured his skull in a training accident at the Orange County track April 5, continues to recover and has been taken off a ventilator but remained in critical condition Thursday. ... Santa Anita Derby winner Came Home is scheduled to fly to Louisville early this morning to prepare for the Kentucky Derby. ... Irish champion Michael Kinane has received a seven-day suspension for a riding infraction Violation or infringement; breach of a statute, contract, or obligation. The term infraction is frequently used in reference to the violation of a particular statute for which the penalty is minor, such as a parking infraction. INFRACTION. at Newmarket, England, that runs through May 4, Kentucky Derby day. Because suspensions typically are honored across jurisdictional lines, Kinane's plan to ride Johannesburg in the Derby is threatened. Unless Kinane secures a delay, it appears Jerry Bailey will end up with the mount on the Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. winner. ... Astra and Golden Apples carry a race-high 121 pounds in Saturday's Santa Barbara Handicap. ... Today's pick-six carryover: $117,000-plus. - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE (see text) |
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