Delahoussaye Elected to Racing Hall of Fame

Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye has been elected to the Racing Hall of Fame, honoring a career that began with a victory in a $2,000 race in his native Louisiana in 1968.

More recently, on the way to more than 5,000 victories, Delahoussaye rode A.P. Indy to victory in the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park last fall.

Delahoussaye, 41, has ridden horses that have earned more than $120 million. After winning the Kentucky Derby with Gato Del Sol in 1982, he returned the next year to win with Sunny’s Halo, becoming only the fourth jockey to win the Triple Crown race in consecutive years.

The Hall of Fame, located in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., also announced Sunday that trainer Tommy Kelly had been elected, along with horses Alysheba, Personal Ensign and Cavalcade.

The honorees, who led voting by 100 turf writers, will be inducted on Aug. 5.

“It’s a great honor,” Delahoussaye said at Santa Anita. “I was surprised when I found out. You never know how the voting might go on these things. This is the greatest honor a rider can receive.”

Delahoussaye, who began riding in California in 1979, finished first on a ballot that also included Steve Cauthen, Don Brumfield, Eddie Maple and Jacinto Vasquez.