It’s important to keep in touch with old friends, so the time seemed right to call that fine son of Cajun country, Edward J. Delahoussaye, better known as Eddie D.
There was a lot to talk about. What did you think of the 2024 Triple Crown? He won five of those races in a Hall of Fame career of 6,384 victories. How’s that scoundrel Ray Sibille? I heard he would join Delahoussaye in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. And did you know about the Eddie D Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita Park later this year? The tidy little hillside sprinter has received a $750,000 purse as part of 1/ST Racing’s dazzling California Crown.
“Never mind all that,” he said.
“I want to let you know that I am no longer on the Louisiana Racing Commission,” Delahoussaye said. “What those dumb racing commissioners did would never have happened if we had kept the same group there. Everyone in the world is trying to control drugs in this game, and they go ahead and do what they did. It was so stupid.”
By now, everyone and their brother knows how the current members of the Louisiana Racing Commission overturned a series of racehorse medication rules unveiled late last month, only to reverse their action under pressure from almost everyone on this side of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Already outside the watch of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, due to a pending action in federal court, Louisiana commissioners suddenly felt inspired to go against the widely accepted medication guidelines established by the International Association of Racing Commissioners.
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Delahoussaye raced for 35 years before retiring in 2003 after a serious accident at Del Mar the previous summer. He moved from California to his native South Louisiana and remained in the sport as an owner, breeder and bloodstock advisor. In 2020, he was appointed to the Louisiana Racing Commission by then-Governor John Bel Edwards and served until earlier this year, when his seat was filled by the newly elected Republican governor, Governor Jeff Landry.
“I know Jeff,” Delahoussaye said. “He asked me to stay but I had to turn him down. I was starting to have some health problems related to my broken neck from the last spill. We had a good board, with six riders who knew the game and were trying to clean things up. I I realized that the governor would make political appointments, people who maybe didn’t know much about races, but I never thought they would do something like they did.”
While outside forces like HISA and Churchill Downs Inc. (owners of Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans) tightened the screws on the commission, Delahoussaye worked backchannels to make sure the governor knew what was going on with his renegade regulators. . .
“I think things will be quiet for a while now that they’ve rescinded those rules,” Delahoussaye said. “At least I hope so. They need to talk to the right people before making those decisions.”
Delahoussaye remains frustrated that Louisiana racing remains an outlier in the new racing world largely governed by HISA. Its governor, Landry, openly opposed the federal legislation as Attorney General of the State of Louisiana when it became law in 2022.
“HISA is good and we need it,” said Delahoussaye. “However, they did it too quickly and needed to talk to a lot more people before it became law. I know they meant well and now they are listening to more people. Although it is difficult to fix things in flying, the game will be better thanks to HISA.”
Delahoussaye and his wife, Juanita, hope to attend the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 22 in Natchitoches, Louisiana, when his good friend Sibille, who rode 4,264 winners, will be among the honorees of 2024. Delahoussaye was admitted in 2002.
“Drew Brees is being inducted, too,” Delahoussaye said, referring to the former New Orleans Saints star quarterback. “Ray is such a big sports fan that I think he’s more excited about hanging out with Drew than about going to the Hall himself.”
Then, later this year, comes the improved Eddie D Stakes, with a purse just shy of the $1 million offered in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), which will be contested Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
“I think it’s good that they’re putting up that amount of money, but I’d rather it be spread out so that more owners have the opportunity to get better wallets,” Delahoussaye said.
The Eddie D is one of the few major races named after Hall of Fame jockeys, and now certainly the richest. The $594,710 Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2) was won this year by Seize the Grey, who then took the Preakness Stakes (G1). So far, racetracks have not named races for retired equestrian stars like Laffit Pincay Jr., Chris McCarron, Gary Stevens, Angel Cordero Jr. or Jerry Bailey. So why Delahoussaye? The river.
(LR): Legendary jockeys Chris McCarron, Russell Baze, Mike Smith and Eddie Delahoussaye pose together in 2014 at Delta Downs.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I was pretty quiet and didn’t make much of a fuss.”
This would be questioned by his competition, who feared Delahoussaye’s “hunh-hunh-hunh” growls that would come towards them when the wire approached at any number of big-money events. More than two decades after his retirement, he still ranks 16th in all-time wins and 24th in all-time earnings earned by his mounts.
Hopefully, Delahoussaye will be around for Eddie D this year. His Southern California fan base remains loyal.
“It’s been a few years since I went racing,” he said. “Although my roots are here in Louisiana, my heart is still in California.”
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