Former NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme of Breaux Bridge, La., celebrated his hometown-hero horse Touchuponastar's first graded stakes win March 22 in the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2), an upset victory over 2024 champion three-year-old male and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Sierra Leone.
Touchuponastar was a $15,000 purchase by Delhomme at the 2020 Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling and HORA Sale, and has now banked more than $1.4 million in career earnings with a record of 15-4-2 from 21 starts, never finishing off the board.
Delhomme played for the Carolina Panthers from 2003-09, leading them to the NFC championship in his first season. He set an NFL record for longest passing touchdown in a Super Bowl with an 85-yard pass to Muhsin Muhammad in Super Bowl XXXVIII and became the first quarterback in NFL history to achieve four consecutive postseason road victories. Delhomme was inducted into the Carolina Panthers Hall of Honor in 2019.
Now, along with his brother and trainer Jeff Delhomme and father Jerry Delhomme, they operate Set-Hut Stable, focusing mainly on Louisiana-bred horses. Although his focus has shifted primarily to horses, Delhomme still serves as a color analyst for the Panthers' radio team.
BloodHorse: Congratulations on Touchuponastar's win in the New Orleans Classic Stakes. What was that moment like for you?
Jake Delhomme: It was phenomenal. What a great day. I think the biggest thing for me, and I mean this wholeheartedly, I'm just excited for the horse. The three graded races he's run in, we've had three seconds. He's run his heart out in all three, and we've gotten caught at the end. Especially last year in the New Orleans, there were fast fractions, he battled and put the rest away, and a closer caught him at the end, but hey, that's horse racing. I'm just excited for him, I'm happy for him, because in my opinion, I think he deserved a graded win on his résumé.
BH: What did it mean to defeat 2024 champion 3-year-old male and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone?
JD: Listen, I was a big fan of his (Sierra Leone). I saw him in person win the Risen Star Stakes the previous year in New Orleans. A ton of respect for him. He's always there, he always shows up. I think one of the biggest things also, if you were ever going to take him (Sierra Leone) on, now probably would've been the time. He hadn't run since Nov. 2, it had been a while. I felt like we were kind of on the top of our game.
And then, Hall of Fame, that was one that scared me a great amount. I know Steve (Asmussen) thought very highly of him, he was a very expensive yearling that competed as a 3-year-old early on, and they gave him time, and we all know Gun Runners improve with age. He had come back and had three starts and done extremely well. It did help having all the scratches, I don't think there was any doubt from a pace perspective. But, regardless, we were going to go. We were blowing and we were going. "Touch" was doing really well, and we felt we had him near the top of his game.
BH: You bought Touchuponastar for just $15,000 at the 2020 Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling and HORA Sale. Did you expect this type of success with him?
JD: When you buy a horse for $15,000, certainly, I think we all hope we buy the next superstar, right? I mean, that's why we're in this game. But that was in August of 2020, so we're smack dab in the middle of COVID-19. I'm not so sure the sale was the best, because of the COVID restrictions and people being uncertain. I had a lot more to spend for him, but for whatever reason, that's where the bidding stopped.
Al Pike, a dear friend of mine, broke him, and we turned him out. In April of that year, broke him, put a little speed work into him, and then I kind of gave him the summer off to be quite honest. He wasn't going to be this five-furlong horse; he probably could've been, but that wasn't going to be the endgame.
We brought him back in August, and started back with him, and had him ready to run at the beginning of the Fair Grounds meet in November 2021. He bucked a shin a week out before his first race, so we had to stop with him. When he came back, he was ready, but not all the way ready. We just thought there was no way he would lose. We thought he was that good. Sure enough, he didn't break, got caught in some traffic, and ran a game second. He just got tired. After that, we just took our time with him. He broke his maiden (in 2022), won an allowance at Evangeline that summer. Then, he trained up to the Fair Grounds' (Louisiana) Champions Day Classic Stakes, and from that point on, he's been on a pretty good run, to say the least.
We're just taking care of him, we've given him summers off by design. It's not because there were injuries or anything; it's just some of the racing in the summer here is more turf-centric for the Louisiana-breds. We haven't tried him there yet, not saying we won't at some point. But, with the heat, we just geared up for a fall/winter-type campaign. He's a gelding, so it's not like he's going to stud. We don't have to answer to anybody, and we'd love to keep him around for a long time.
BH: You saw Touchuponastar before he sold at the TTA sale. How did that happen, and what about him stood out?
JD: Andrew Cary does the bloodstock work for Coteau Grove Farms, which is right in our neck of the woods. The first mare Andrew purchased for them (Coteau Grove) was the dam of No Parole, a grade 1 winner. Andrew and I have been friends for around 20 years, and when he comes to town every month to look at all the mares and babies on the farm, I always go with him. I love that.
He (Touchuponastar) had a striking resemblance to his father (Star Guitar). There was something about him: we always said, 'That's a nice horse, that's a nice horse.' He was always one for whatever reason, he would just stand out. And that's why I knew I was going to buy him when he went to the Texas sale.
BH: How many other racehorses do you own? What about broodmares?
JD: I strictly have Louisiana-breds to race, because the program is phenomenal. There's four racetracks that run year-round. The breeding program is fantastic. Right now, for myself, we have nine in training, and a couple more about ready to come in. I stay around that number, somewhere between 8-12.
I keep a few mares here in Louisiana, at Jay Adcock's Red River Farms. I also have a few horses that I keep at Jay's (Goodwin) in Kentucky. I sold a short yearling at the Fasig-Tipton February Sale by Jackie's Warrior that did well ($170,000). I sold a Charlatan out of the same mare (Forest Lake) last September (for $130,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale). I partner with Jay and Andrew, I keep a few mares up in Kentucky, and dabble in that game also.
BH: Horse racing is a family affair for you. Your brother Jeff trains Touchuponastar, and your father Jerry also trained. Can you tell me more about your background in the industry?
JD: My grandfather, this is way back when, he's been gone for many years. You hear about those "brush tracks," that's kind of how my grandfather grew up. He died when I was very young, but we always had the racehorses, and Dad always trained. Dad had a regular job, but we had a barn at the house; we lived on 15 acres. We had a track not far across the street, so Dad always trained.
Jeff and I were always around him. We didn't grow up hunting, fishing, golfing, or anything like that. We played sports, and we did the horses. Jeff played college football. I went to college, played football, and then I got lucky enough to latch on and play for 15 years in the NFL, but we always had a few horses. Since I finished playing after the 2011 season, I got a lot more involved, and then Jeff became more involved, too. Dad retired with the state, so we just started doing it more; it's our labor of love. It's what we love to do. Like I said, we don't hunt, fish, or golf; we're at the barn every day, to be honest. That's what we love. It's awesome, it's great, it's fun. Certainly, there are times when you butt heads, but that's like anything. It's a lot of fun, a lot of work, but we love it.
BH: Is horse racing comparable to the feeling you had playing football? Are there any similarities?
JD: You get the highest highs, right? In football, we would always say, sometimes you have the highest highs and the lowest lows. I mean, I know what it's like to throw a winning touchdown pass at the end of game, lucky enough. I know it's phenomenal. But you know what I also know how to do very well? I know how to lose a game too. I know how to fumble a ball or throw an interception, or lose a game when a game is on the line. So, I've been on both sides, and it's the highest highs and the lowest lows.
That competitive void, that so many athletes have trouble filling when they're done, horse racing gives me that. I get that feeling inside. I love going to a sale. I love breeding a horse and thinking about what the end result is going to be. I like going to a sale and picturing: this is what I envision that horse being. There's something about that that makes me tick. It's fun, it's hard, you get frustrated. But, I know for me, I love the good moments, they're great. But, I also know this sounds weird, I relish the bad moments. The ones where you're like, 'oh my gosh, we made a mistake with this horse. Why did we do that? How do you learn from it?' And I can't wait to get back the next morning and start to rectify the problem. That's what entices me about this game, because it's so hard, it's so tough, you've got to enjoy the good moments. But you learn so much from the tough moments.
BH: You could probably say the same for football, maybe it helps set you up to have that mindset?
JD: You have to learn. You don't sweep the problems under the rug. You've got to address them, address your deficiencies, and try to make them better. Something my dad always says is, 'When you think you know it all in the horse racing game, you need to get out and go do something else.' Meaning you'll never know it all, you're constantly learning. That's something I always hear in my head.
BH: What are the plans with Touchuponastar going forward?
JD: The last two years we've kind of done the same thing. Last year, we ran in the (New Orleans) Classic. The year prior, we ran on the same weekend, but we ran in a Louisiana-bred race, called the Star Guitar Stakes. From there, we ended up running in the EVD Classic Stakes, and that's on (Kentucky) Derby Day. We've run in that race, and then we've gone on to the Steve Sexton Mile. I'm not so sure if that's what we're going to do this year. We're just going to sit back.
This might sound cliché, but it's the truth: "Touch" is going to tell us when he's ready. That's going to be the deciding factor. He'll tell us when he's ready. I'll probably nominate for the Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland, certainly the Alysheba on (Kentucky) Oaks day. It's certainly a one step at a time approach. The good thing is, I have to answer to an owner, and that's me.
