Delahoussaye Gets Win No. 4,000 : He Reaches Milestone at Del Mar Aboard Fawn and Hawn

One of the milestones in Eddie Delahoussaye’s career was the day in 1982 when he rode a gray horse, Gato Del Sol, to victory in the Kentucky Derby for trainer Eddie Gregson.

Delahoussaye reached another milestone Sunday at Del Mar, and again Gregson and a gray horse were involved. The race was worth only $25,000 instead of Gato Del Sol’s $551,100 Derby, but 4,000 victories still is impressive.

And that’s what the Gregson-trained 2-year-old filly, Fawn and Hawn, gave Delahoussaye with her 7-length win in the 6-furlong fourth race.

The 36-year-old Delahoussaye is not a numbers guy. He doesn’t remember where or when he rode his 1,000th winner, and he was only guessing when he said that his 2,000th might have come at Arlington Park and No. 3,000 may have been at Hollywood Park. In fact, No. 3,000 did come at Hollywood, on July 24, 1984.

Delahoussaye couldn’t have been impervious to 4,000, however, because nobody would let him. Several days ago, the track had a sign-maker prepare a large placard for the impending occasion, and after every recent Delahoussaye win, racing officials such as starter Tucker Slender and clerk of scales Dean Scarborough were in the area of the winner’s circle, asking how many Delahoussaye had to go.

Delahoussaye went into Sunday’s nine-race program with 3,997 wins and his agent, former jockey Terry Lipham, got him assignments on eight horses. “We’re not going to mess around,” Lipham told Delahoussaye early Sunday. “Today we’re going to do it.”

Delahoussaye started the card with a win on Sensational Star. He skipped the second race, then won the third on Speedratic, a 3-year-old colt who had broken his maiden under Delahoussaye a year ago, then ran only once since.

Fawn and Hawn, making her first start, had worked quickly for Gregson last Thursday morning. “I told Eddie in the paddock that I liked her chances,” Delahoussaye said.

Delahoussaye also won the 1983 Kentucky Derby with Sunny’s Halo, becoming only the fourth rider to win the race in consecutive years. This year, Delahoussaye won the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes with Risen Star, becoming one of only a few riders to win all three Triple Crown races with different horses.

Delahoussaye won his first race on a big, black gelding named Brown Shill in a 1 3/16-mile race at Evangeline Downs in his native Louisiana on Oct. 26, 1973.

Since then, he’s been a success wherever he’s ridden and in 1978 he won 384 races to lead the nation. This year, Delahoussaye’s mounts have earned more than $7.2 million--roughly, a jockey’s earnings are 10% of that--and he’s third in that category.

“I’ve never paid much attention to the statistics,” Delahoussaye said Sunday. “I just keep on working. I’m glad I got it over with. There are an awful lot of other riders who have never done it, and it’s a great honor.”

In the jockeys’ room after the fourth, Delahoussaye spotted Bill Shoemaker, the soon-to-be 57-year-old who has ridden a record 8,771 winners.

“I’m going to catch you in the next 20 years, Shoemaker,” Delahoussaye said.

Probably not, but Delahoussaye will be trying. He won the seventh race--his fourth winner of the day--on the road to No. 5,000.

On opening day, Perfecting tried to win wire-to-wire in the Oceanside Stakes and was run down by Silver Circus in the stretch, losing by a length. On Sunday, it was Perfecting that did the closing. The son of Affirmed overtook Roberto’s Dancer to win the $100,000 La Jolla Handicap by 1 3/4 lengths.

Roberto’s Dancer was a half-length better than Prove Splendid, who saved third place by a neck over Blade of the Ball, the 3-1 favorite.

Perfecting, trained by Laz Barrera for Louis and Patrice Wolfson, who raced Affirmed, paid $12 for a $2 win bet, winning his third race and first stake in 11 starts. Ridden by Gary Stevens, Perfecting ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41 3/5, which broke the stakes record of 1:42 1/5 set by The Medic last year.

Horse Racing Notes

Chris McCarron, who suffered a bruised right calf in a gate accident Friday at Del Mar, will be sidelined for the third straight day today but is named to ride two horses Wednesday, including Duchess Greg in the $60,000 Junior Miss Stakes. McCarron is over the $6-million mark in purses this year and ranks fourth, behind Gary Stevens, Jose Santos and Eddie Delahoussaye, on the national money list. . . . Del Mar’s Monday races are coming up more glamorous than some of the weekend stakes. A week ago, Precisionist and Candi’s Gold battled, with Precisionist setting the 1:33 1/5 track record for the mile. Today, the field for a $42,000 six-furlong allowance race includes Mi Preferido, Hilco Scamper, Good Command and Prince Bobby B., who holds the track record of 1:34 1/5 for a mile on grass. . . . Faro, who was entered in today’s race, ran instead at the Orange County Fair Saturday night at Los Alamitos and broke the track record for 6 1/2 furlongs with a time of 1:15.

When Gerril won Sunday’s second race, he was the first favorite to win at Del Mar in 20 races. . . . The name of Delahoussaye’s 4,000th winner, Fawn and Hawn, was misspelled because of a clerical error. The breeder and owner of the 2-year-old filly, Kenneth Franzheim, wanted the name to be Fawn and Hahn, after Fawn Hall and Jessica Hahn. . . . The jockeys who preceded Delahoussaye to the 4,000-win mark are Bill Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay, Angel Cordero, Jorge Velasquez, John Longden, Larry Snyder, Sandy Hawley, Dave Gall, Eddie Arcaro, Carl Gambardella, Chris McCarron, Steve Brooks, Walter Blum, Don Brumfield, Jacinto Vasquez, Bill Hartack, Earlie Fires, Avelino Gomez and Pat Day. . . . Sabulose’s speedy win on opening day looked better Sunday after Texian, the 2-year-old colt he beat, came back to win easily. . . . Sunday’s crowd of 24,190 was the biggest of the season. . . . Birthdays Sunday were Eddie Gregson’s 50th and jockey Russell Baze’s 30th.