Del Mar Derby : Deputy Governor’s Win Is Real Bit of Handiwork

He’s a jockey, not a boxer, but Eddie Delahoussaye displayed a strong right hand Sunday.

Deputy Governor had the lead at the top of the stretch in the $166,200 Del Mar Derby when Delahoussaye lost his whip.

“I never lost the whip in a major stake before,” the 20-year veteran said. “I just got too anxious and lost it when I uncocked it . . . (Trainer) Neil (Drysdale) told me before the race, that (Deputy Governor) doesn’t like the whip, anyway, but I said later to Neil, ‘When you lose a whip in a big race, it’s not what you say, it’s what the people who bet on you say.’ ”

Bettors among the crowd of 28,938 who put their money on Deputy Governor--the betting favorite at 5-2--were probably saying, “Bravo.”

Using his right hand to continually chop Deputy Governor on the shoulder, Delahoussaye rode the chestnut colt to victory by three-quarters of a length over a charging Stately Don in the race for three-year olds.

“I’m glad I won,” Delahoussaye said. “I would have never lived it down.”

Deputy Governor paid $6.80, $3.80 and $3.20; Stately Don, ridden by Jacinto Vasquez, paid $6.40 and $3, and The Medic, ridden by Chris McCarron, paid $3.40 to show.

For Deputy Governor, a Maryland-bred son of Master Willie and Regent Miss, the Del Mar Derby was only his second American start since coming over from England, where he was trained by former British jockey Lester Piggott.

On Aug. 9, Deputy Governor finished fifth behind the winner, The Medic, in the La Jolla Handicap. He broke slowly but was closing fast at the finish.

Sunday, on the same turf course, Deputy Governor raced closer to the lead.

“I think (Deputy Governor) knew what it was all about today,” Drysdale said. “That’s why he raced up closer than last time. He was just feeling his way then.”

Delahoussaye said Deputy Governor “acted lost” in his first race at Del Mar but was “keener” and “showed more speed” Sunday. Deputy Governor covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 2/5.

But it was by no means an easy victory. Stately Don, an Irish-raced horse making his first start in the United States, got off to a slow start but threatened down the stretch.

“(Stately Don) broke very badly,” said Vasquez, who arrived from Saratoga with trainer LeRoy Jolley early Sunday. “He took a step back instead of forward when the starter opened the gate and was left flat-footed. He made a big run from the half-mile pole and just hung from the sixteenth pole. If he breaks with the rest of them, no doubt he would have won.”

Something Lucky, second choice in the betting, had a case of sniffles and finished last. “He didn’t relax at all,” jockey Laffit Pincay said. “At the half-mile pole, he just collapsed.”