HOLLYWOOD PARK : By Whatever Standards, Year Is Great One for Delahoussaye

His first Eclipse Award would seem a perfect cap to a year during which Eddie Delahoussaye won the Belmont Stakes and two Breeders’ Cup races.

Delahoussaye and Kent Desormeaux are the leading candidates to be named top jockey of 1992, but the Eclipse is not foremost on Delahoussaye’s mind.

“If I get it, fine. If I don’t get it, it’s no big deal,” he said Wednesday. “I’m happy within myself. I know what I’ve done (this year), and I’m proud of what I’ve done. If people can’t see what I’ve accomplished over the years, then something’s wrong.”

Delahoussaye, 41, said he felt slighted in 1978 when he led the nation in victories with 384 while riding primarily in the Midwest. Darrel McHargue, who had nine fewer victories but led the nation in money won, was awarded the Eclipse. His earnings were $6,188,353, compared to $3,347,745 for Delahoussaye.

“I thought I had a good shot at it, and everybody was telling me then that I could win the Eclipse,” Delahoussaye said. “I rode 1,666 races that year, and I worked very hard to be the leading rider in the country.

“(The voters) looked at it like I hadn’t really achieved anything, and that was pretty sad. I really thought I deserved it, and I really expected something back then. That left me with a sour taste in my mouth about the Eclipse Awards.”

A jockey since 1968, the Louisiana-born Delahoussaye said 1992 has been his finest year, no matter how the election goes.

“Not just because of winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” he said, “but because of the whole situation with A.P. Indy.

“We always knew he could run, and I thought we had a Triple Crown winner. It was disappointing when he got hurt before the (Kentucky) Derby, but (trainer) Neil (Drysdale) did a great job bringing him back. A.P. Indy went on and proved to everybody he was the horse we always thought he was. That’s what made my year. He’s one of the best horses I’ve ever ridden, and he was a true race horse.”

At one time, Delahoussaye said he would retire when he turned 40, but he has no intention of doing so in the near future.

“As long as I’m feeling well and riding well, I’ll continue,” he said. “I still enjoy what I’m doing, but the only thing I will do next year is cut down on the number of horses I ride. I’ve been averaging about seven a day, and I’d like to cut it to about five.”

Gary Henson, son of the late Harry Henson, began his three-week stint as Hollywood Park’s track announcer, filling in for Trevor Denman. Denman will be on vacation until Santa Anita opens Dec. 26.

Henson, 48, sounds a lot like his father, who called the races at Hollywood Park from 1958-82. Since 1973, Gary Henson had been the track announcer at Longacres, which recently completed its final season.

Fraise, who upset Sky Classic in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, heads the list of nominees to the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, which will be run Dec. 13.

With a victory in the 1 1/2-mile race, Fraise could wrap up the Eclipse Award as the champion grass horse. Others nominated to the Grade I race are Itsallgreektome, who won it in 1990 and was second to Miss Alleged last year; Campagnarde, Jolypha, Marquetry, Myrakalu, Bien Bien, Revassir, Saganeca, Stark South, Tel Quel, Trishyde and Wolf.

Bobby Frankel trains four of the nominees--Marquetry, Jolypha, Revassir and Saganeca--but Jolypha is the only one likely to start. Jolypha finished third behind A.P. Indy and Pleasant Tap in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in her first start on dirt and would be returning to her preferred surface in the Turf Cup.

Desormeaux, who leads the nation in money won and is second in victories behind Russell Baze, has won the 1993 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award.

In voting done by members of the Jockeys’ Guild, Desormeaux won over Jean Cruguet, David Gall, Carl Gambardella, Phil Grove and Pat Steinberg. Desormeaux will receive the Woolf trophy in a ceremony during Santa Anita’s upcoming meeting.

Horse Racing Notes

Laffit Pincay was married Sunday night to the former Jeanine Dorn. It is the second marriage for Pincay. . . . Bullet Points, the 3-2 favorite in the seventh race Wednesday, had to be destroyed after breaking his left knee during the race. A 3-year-old son of Pirate’s Bounty, Bullet Points was claimed by trainer Robert Marshall for $62,500. . . . Pat Valenzuela, who rode Bullet Points, took off his final two mounts complaining of a sore shoulder after trying to pull the gelding up. . . . Kalita Melody won for the second time in as many U.S. starts, beating 10-1 shot Prying by 1 1/4 lengths in Wednesday’s $42,000 feature. Ridden by Delahoussaye and trained by Julio Canani, Kalita Melody paid $5 and covered the 1 1/16 miles on turf in 1:42.