Delahoussaye Plays Cards Right Again : Hollywood Park: He rides A.P. Indy to narrow victory over Dance Floor in the Futurity.

Fifteen minutes after the $599,600 Hollywood Futurity had been run, Eddie Delahoussaye was sitting in the middle of the jockeys’ room, playing a four-handed card game called race-horse rummy.

Whatever the stakes of that game, Delahoussaye could afford them. Minutes before he had completed a typical Delahoussaye ride, sitting patiently on a horse who has a late run, then getting that little extra in the final yards for a narrow victory. This time the horse was A.P. Indy, and their victory by a neck over Dance Floor was worth about $32,978 to Delahoussaye.

Arazi, run-away winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last month, and Bertrando, the colt who was a distant second that day, still lead the division--which forms the field for the 1992 Kentucky Derby--but A.P. Indy is now a colt to consider. Derby winners Seattle Slew and Secretariat are in his family; Preakness winner Summer Squall is a half-brother; he cost $2.9 million as a yearling, and has won in his first stake against a large field.

Delahoussaye, winner of the Derby in 1982 with Gato Del Sol and again in 1983 with Sunny’s Halo, has ridden A.P. Indy in all four of his races, the last three for victories after a fourth-place finish in late August at Del Mar.

“This horse has a great future,” Delahoussaye said. “He’s getting more aggressive every time, he’s more racy now. There’s still room for improvement, but he’s coming in to himself.”

Dance Floor, winner of two stakes in Kentucky, went off the 3-1 favorite among 14 horses, slightly ahead of A.P. Indy and Star of the Crop in the betting. Ridden by Chris Antley, Dance Floor had a ground-saving trip on the rail and finished 5 1/2 lengths ahead of 52-1 shot Casual Lies. Star of the Crop, close to the pace early, sputtered after three-quarters of a mile and finished 11th.

A son of Seattle Slew and Weekend Surprise, A.P. Indy earned $329,780 for his owner, Japanese businessman Tomonori Tsurumaki. He paid $8.40 and went 1 1/16 miles in 1:42 4/5.

“I don’t think there are any limitations as far as distance is concerned,” said Neil Drysdale, who trains A.P. Indy. “I had his mother one winter at Santa Anita, and she was able to run on. Summer Squall ran on, and that Seattle Slew blood certainly isn’t going to stop him from handling a distance of ground.”

Before 13,317, A.P. Indy was four and five horses wide much of the way, coming from ninth place. At the top of the stretch, Real West, who had set modest fractions while leading all the way, began to fade, and at the eighth pole a two-horse race developed, with Dance Floor on the rail and A.P. Indy in the center of the track.

Delahoussaye never hit A.P. Indy, merely waving the whip in his face with the right hand. “I had him where I wanted him, I didn’t have to hit him,” Delahoussaye said. “I had saved a little bit, and I had the wire measured just right. His last race, I hit him a few times, and he took it, but . . .”

On the turn for home, Delahoussaye had the choice of staying wide or joining the pack. “It looked like it was getting pretty crammed up in there,” Delahoussaye said. “I thought it was better to stay where we were rather than having to stop and start him again.”

Chris Antley, the New York-based veteran, had been looking for his second consecutive victory aboard Dance Floor, who is owned by rapper Hammer and his family.

“My horse ran a great race,” Antley said. “I was fortunate to have a trip like I did. From the start I was on the inside, kind of looking for running room every sixteenth of a mile as they were piling up in front of me.

“I managed to stay on the rail and got through turning for home. I thought I was going to win at the three-sixteenths pole, but old Eddie D. is tough.”

Horse Racing Notes

Pat Valenzuela, who has signed a lucrative contract to ride for owner Allen Paulson next year, received a five-day suspension from the Hollywood Park stewards Sunday, but Paulson said they are planning to seek a court stay while the penalty is appealed. Valenzuela’s suspension is scheduled to start Thursday at Santa Anita, where Paulson’s Dinard will begin his comeback in the Malibu, the opening-day feature. Valenzuela drew the suspension because his mount, Brainstorming, was disqualified from second to third for interference during Saturday’s third race. Valenzuela’s deal with Paulson means he will ride Arazi, the future-book favorite for the 1992 Kentucky Derby, here and abroad. Arazi’s 3-year-old campaign is expected to start in Europe. Last month, Valenzuela rode both of Paulson’s Breeders’ Cup winners, Arazi in the Juvenile and Opening Verse in the Mile.

A.P. Indy brought the largest price of any yearling sold in 1990. Trainer Neil Drysdale isn’t sure what the horse’s name means. . . . Owner Tomonori Tsurumaki has yet to see A.P. Indy run. . . . . Eddie Delahoussaye’s first Hollywood Futurity victory came with Roving Boy in 1982, the second year the stake was run. Gato Del Sol, Delahoussaye’s first Kentucky Derby winner, ran seventh in the 1981 Futurity.

Campagnarde is the high weight at 118 pounds for the Dahlia Handicap, the closing-day feature at Hollywood Park on Tuesday. Campagnarde was not injured when she clipped heels and fell in the Matriarch. Others in the field are Elegance, Cameo Performance, Southern Tradition, Riverlyph, Kikala, Lilian Bayliss, Tres Chic, Gaelic Bird, Appealing Missy, Aloha Corrine and Re Toss, and Luna Elegante is on the also-eligible list. . . . With Pat Day not riding the rest of the year, Chris McCarron has a chance to overtake him for the top spot on the national money list. McCarron, who had two winners Sunday, is about $200,000 behind Day, who has $14.4 million in purses. . . . Farma Way, injured and scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Classic, has been retired to stud at the Vinery near Midway, Ky. Farma Way, winner of this year’s Santa Anita Handicap, earned a $750,000 bonus for totaling the most points during the American Championship Racing Series, and finishes with earnings of $2.8 million.