Racing at Hollywood Park : Delahoussaye Hasn’t Received Share of Triple Crown Bonus

Eddie Delahoussaye, who rode Risen Star to victory in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, said he has not been paid what he believes is his $100,000 share of a $1-million Triple Crown bonus.

For accumulating the most points in the Triple Crown races, Risen Star earned $1 million, besides the first-place purses of $413,700 in the Preakness and $303,720 in the Belmont. Delahoussaye also rode Risen Star to a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

Delahoussaye has received his standard 10% share of those purses, a total of $71,742. But he said that after several phone conversations with Louie Roussel, the co-owner and trainer of Risen Star, there was no indication that he would be paid the $100,000 from the bonus.

“I’m going to talk to Louie one more time, on Monday,” Delahoussaye said. “If he doesn’t promise me then that the check will be in the mail, then we’ll see about talking to lawyers.”

Roussel, the principal owner of the Fair Grounds track in New Orleans, is still in New York, supervising the post-Belmont care of Risen Star. He could not be reached for comment.

Delahoussaye says that he is not contractually covered regarding the bonus, but he says that jockeys have received 10% of bonuses before. In fact, in 1985, when Spend a Buck earned a $2-million bonus from Garden State Park for winning the Kentucky Derby, the Jersey Derby and two other stakes, Laffit Pincay reportedly received a 10% share ($200,000) even though he only rode the horse in the final race, the Jersey Derby. Angel Cordero, who was the winning rider in the other three races but had a commitment to ride a horse in New York the day of the Jersey Derby, did not receive any bonus money.

Delahoussaye said that Roussel has suggested a one-time breeding share in Risen Star in lieu of the $100,000. Roussel also told Delahoussaye that the jockey’s expenses amounted to $12,000 during the Triple Crown series.

“I would even take the $100,000 less the expenses, if that’s what he’d want to do,” Delahoussaye said. “This isn’t the money, it’s the principal of the thing. Why wouldn’t they just pay me? The money’s going to go to the government (in taxes), anyway.”

Although Delahoussaye was riding for Roussel at the Fair Grounds before he came to Southern California, there was friction between them even before the Kentucky Derby. Delahoussaye, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, had never ridden Risen Star, and Roussel asked him to fly to Louisville from Los Angeles to work the horse before giving him the mount. Roussel then had to look at videotapes of the workout, a move unprecedented in racing, before he chose Delahoussaye over Craig Perret and Jacinto Vasquez.

After the Derby, there were rumors that Delahoussaye might lose the mount on Risen Star for the Preakness. Risen Star took the wide way around in the Derby, and Roussel’s assistant, Jimmy Nichols, was openly critical of Delahoussaye’s ride.

“This man (Roussel) has put me through a lot,” Delahoussaye said. “If I hadn’t thought so much of the horse, I wouldn’t have put up with it.”

Risen Star will probably run in the $1-million Travers Stakes at Saratoga next month, if his fragile right front ankle has healed.

Asked whether he would ride for Roussel again, Delahoussaye said: “Only if I had a contract. Louie’s not a bad guy, it’s just that he’s off the wall. At one point in our discussions, he got out the dictionary and read to me what the definition of a bonus was.

“All I know is that the (Daily Racing Form) chart of the Belmont shows that the horse won more than a million dollars ($1,303,720) and I should be entitled to 10% of the whole thing. They’re listing the bonus in Risen Star’s earnings, and they’re even listing the $1-million in my purse money for the year. That’s why I’m second in the (national) standings (to Gary Stevens). But if I’m not getting the $100,000, I shouldn’t have the $1 million next to my name, either.”

Roussel, who is an attorney, recently put together a $14-million breeding syndication package for Risen Star, who is expected to be retired after this year. Forty lifetime shares in the stallion would cost $350,000 apiece. Based on a hypothetical breeding career of 20 years, a single breeding right would have a book value of less than $20,000. Delahoussaye is not receptive to that offer.

Horse Racing Notes

Olympic Prospect was a 2-year-old with only one race on his record when trainer John Sadler claimed him at Santa Anita for $50,000. Since then, the 4-year-old gelding has won 7 of 14 starts, and on Saturday earned $86,450 at Hollywood Park by holding off Sylvan Express by a head to win the $138,950 Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Stakes before 24,598 fans. Favored Olympic Prospect, ridden by Laffit Pincay, paid $3.80 to win, running 6 furlongs on the grass in 1:08, which missed Zany Tactics’ U.S. and track record by three-fifths of a second. Lord Ruckus was third, 3 1/2 lengths behind Sylvan Express, in the field of six.

Five horses, headed by top-weighted Steinlen at 121 pounds, were entered for Monday’s $200,000 American Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on grass. Others running are Skip Out Front, Circus Prince, World Court and Deputy Governor. . . . Chris McCarron rode four winners Saturday. . . . High Brite was a 1 1/2-length winner over Highland Ruckus in the Budweiser Breeders’ Cup at Finger Lakes. . . . At Churchill Downs, Miss Song Tres, the first starter sired by Desert Wine, won a race for maiden 2-year-old fillies by 3 lengths.