Delahoussaye’s Ride Picture Perfect as Brisque Wins Escondido

Watch out Siskel and Ebert, Gene Shalit. Eddie Delahoussaye may be bucking for your jobs.

Delahoussaye, recognized universally for his riding ability, also is becoming one of the better film critics around.

After going to school on the videotaped replays of Australian-bred Brisque’s races, Delahoussaye guided him to a 1 1/2-length victory Saturday in the $83,150 Escondido Handicap at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

Watching the tape, Delahoussaye had picked up on 6-year-old Brisque’s penchant for staying back and then exploding in the stretch. And that is exactly what happened in the 1 3/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up.

Although the strategy worked, Delahoussaye said things weren’t as easy as they appeared.

“Chris (McCarron, riding Putting) had me trapped in there, but I had a little too much horse and could move my way out,” Delahoussaye said.

Said McCarron: “It was a dynamite trip. We had the winner trapped, but he squeezed his way out.”

Brisque, purchased by Charles and Audrey Kenis of Los Angeles from Australian owners in March, ran fourth and third through the first mile, then moved to second at the head of the stretch before flying past Vallotton and Putting to take the race.

“In the films, they gathered him up and galloped on, but when they called on him, he really took off,” Delahoussaye said. “In one of the films at 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 miles, they were still strangling him at the head of the stretch, and in the last sixteenth, he drew off.

“I told Donn Luby (Brisque’s trainer) before the race I was going to take him back. and if they go slow, I’ll cover him up and make one run.”

Before the race, Luby said he felt comfortable with Delahoussaye’s assessment of Brisque’s tendencies. He had run only one race in the United States, finishing third in an allowance at Hollywood Park in March.

“Eddie’s one of the best,” Luby said. “You just have to let him run his own race.”

With Delahoussaye’s two victories Saturday--he also won on Flippable in the fifth--and four on Friday, he is one behind Laffit Pincay Jr. in the jockey standings with 19 victories in 102 mounts.

Is he a hot?

“No, I’m just getting on the right horses,” he said. “It all depends on the animal and the luck.”

Actually, Delahoussaye hasn’t been feeling so hot lately. He has been battling a sinus infection since the meeting began three weeks ago.

“Yesterday, I felt like my head was going to blow off,” he said. “My agent told me today to get sick more often.”

Brisque paid $9.80, $4.60 and $3.20, Pleasant Variety paid $3.40 and $2.40 and Putting $2.80.

Del Mar Notes

Jockey Fernando Valenzuela skipped Saturday’s races after a rough outing Friday. Valenzuela, 20, spilled to the track on consecutive mounts in the fourth and sixth races. He was later taken to the hospital, where he received six stitches in his scalp and treatment for a slight concussion. Valenzuela first went down when Balzac’s Star clipped heels near the finish of the fourth. In the sixth, Salcombe broke a leg midway through the backstretch and fell, unseating Valenzuela. . . . Cheval Volant, French for “flying horse,” worked an easy half mile in 48 seconds in preparation for Wednesday’s $75,000-added Sorento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. The Grade III stakes at seven furlongs is a major prep for the $200,000-added Grade II Del Mar Debutante at one mile Sept. 3. After winning her debut at Hollywood Park, Cheval Volant came back to finish second to Dominant Dancer in the Landaluce Stakes in her last start July 8. . . . A small field is shaping up for the Sorrento. Other possibles include Peter Brant’s Rue de Palm, W.R. Hawn’s Materco and the Golden Eagle Farm’s pair of Annual Reunion and Bel Starlet.