Thanks guys, I got it to work the way I wanted to :-)

Here's the code for a 1024*768 bitmap to be displayed when the app starts if anyone else needs it

Code:
procedure TForm1.Splash;
begin
  DXSpriteEngine1.Engine.Moved := False;
  with TSplash.Create(DXSpriteEngine1.Engine) do
    begin
      Image:= Form1.DXImageList1.Items.Find('Splash');
      Width:= Image.Width;
      Height:= Image.Height;
      X:= (Form1.DXDraw1.Width-Width) div 2;
      Y:= ((Form1.DXDraw1.Height-Height) div 2) + (Height -780);
      Z:= 5;
     end;
end;


procedure TSplash.DoMove(MoveCount: Integer);
begin
  inherited DoMove(MoveCount);
  if Form1.Start_Intro then
  begin
    Y:= Y+100;
    if Y > Form1.DXDraw1.Height+Height+10 then
      begin
        Dead;
      end;
  end;
end;

I called DXSpriteEngine1.Engine.Moved := False in the splash procedure to 'pause' the game while the bitmap is displayed and TRUE in the eventhandler of the return key to play the game.