A certified all-time great and longtime member of Racing's Hall of Fame, Eddie Delahoussaye, for whom Friday's main event at Santa Anita, the Grade 2, $200,000 Eddie D Stakes, is named, will not be on-hand to present the winner's trophy along with his wife Juanita.
“With all the Covid stuff going on, we just weren't able to make it out this year,” said the popular Cajun native from his home in Lafayette, La. “At my age (69), you never know what you're gonna get! Hopefully things will get back to normal and we can make the trip again next year.”
Retired due to injury in 2003, Delahoussaye, 69, who has worked part time as a blood stock agent and has dabbled in racehorse ownership himself, is in the process of taking on a new role—that of racing commissioner with the state of Louisiana. Although he won't be officially sworn in until the Louisiana state legislature reconvenes in June, he's serving in the role of apprentice commissioner in the interim.
“The HBPA is trying to figure out if Delta Downs is going to run or if they should run. They were supposed to open Oct. 5, now they're saying they might open Nov. 27…So, we've got trainers maybe sitting out two or three months, owners are gonna leave the business…It looks like Louisiana Downs is the only place maybe we can go because Boyd Gaming won't open up Evangeline Downs.”
When asked what he thought the biggest current issue or issues facing racing, nationally, are, Delahoussaye didn't hesitate.
“To me, it's education. Communicating with the public and educating people properly. I think we've gone about it in the wrong way…We have people that are not in this game, trying to change this game and I think that's what going to hurt this game. It's not a game, it's multi-billion dollar business. Instead of perception, we need to deal in facts. We have people in this industry that are new and they think differently.
“There's a lot of things that are right about our industry and not everything needs to be changed. I just don't get it…The people in this game love the animals and I think we need to educate people and we have not done that. We should have done this a long time ago, that's just my opinion.”
America's leading rider by wins with 384 in 1978, Delahoussaye, who won seven Breeders' Cup races, including the inaugural Distaff with Princess Rooney at Hollywood Park in 1984 and the Classic with A.P. Indy at Gulfstream in 1992, retired with 6,384 career wins.
He cemented his status as one of the nation's elite riders by winning the Kentucky Derby in successive years, in 1982 with Gato Del Sol and in 1983 with Sunny's Halo.
“I think Santa Anita has done a great job getting racing going with everything that's gone on this year,” he said. “Hopefully, things will continue to get better. I love this sport and I really hope we can get it back to where it was before.”
A winner of the 1981 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, Delahoussaye was always known as a plain spoken advocate for horse and rider safety and is one of the most highly respected riders of any era.
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