Alberto Delgado, who earned Eclipse Award honors as the champion apprentice jockey in 1982, announced his retirement after the second race Dec. 28 at Laurel Park.
“It’s been coming for a long time,” Delgado said. “Over the years, I retired, but never because I wanted to. (It was) because of injuries, concussions. At some point, I was heavy, so I had to retire and get everything straight. Last year, I kept telling myself this would be my last year, and I had to build myself up for it. I still love it, but at some point you’ve got to step down. You can’t keep this madness going.”
Delgado, a second-generation jockey from Carolina, Puerto Rico, was a hit from his first ride, winning 245 races during his Eclipse Award-winning season. On Aug. 16, he rode five winners at Delaware Park, then drove to Timonium, where he swept the late daily double. Delgado surpassed the 200-win mark in each of the next four years.
In a Washington Post article dated Oct. 7, 1982, Delgado’s agent, Joe Monahan, told writer Vincent Perrone, “This kid is the best bug (apprentice) rider I’ve seen here since Chris McCarron.”
“He’s a heady rider with a good feel for the horse,” jockey Charlie Cooke told Perrone. “He doesn’t push a horse too soon. It’s good to see a rider that has that kind of ability with such little experience.”
Turf writer Jack Mann interviewed trainer Richard Dutrow Sr. in an article published in the Baltimore Evening Sun on Dec. 23, 1982. “No, I don’t ride him for the weight (the five-pound apprentice allowance). I want him for his ride. He fits in with McCarron, (Sandy) Hawley, (Vince) Bracciale, all the good ones who have come through here. He’s a good rider.”
According to a July 17, 1990, Washington Times article by Rick Snider, Delgado broke his collarbone in both 1987 and 1988.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t lose confidence,” Delgado told Snider. “But now I’ve got it back.”
Delgado responded by winning more than 120 races annually from 1993-96. In 1995, he guided Oliver’s Twist to victory in Pimlico Race Course’s Federico Tesio Stakes (G3). Four weeks later, Delgado and Oliver’s Twist finished second in the Preakness Stakes (G1), the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
“I had a lot of confidence in the horse,” Delgado said. “He ran a super, super race that day, and we almost won it.”
During a sojourn in Southern California in 2013, Delgado rode California Chrome in five of the colt’s first six starts, including a maiden special weight victory and a 2 3/4-length win in the $100,000 Graduation Stakes at Hollywood Park.
“I worked him for the first time, and I knew he was a super horse,” Delgado said. “I told the owner as soon as I broke his maiden that this horse would win the Derby the next year. He was something amazing.”
California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby (G1) and the Preakness in 2014 under jockey Victor Espinoza. He retired with earnings of $14,752,650.
Delgado retires with a record of 2,951 wins in 25,533 rides and career earnings of $42,072,982. He earned 115 stakes wins, including 10 graded triumphs, and captured five Maryland Million races.
Delgado’s last mount, Beshareit, finished fourth and is trained by his wife, Alison.
“This morning, when I woke up, I was tearing up,” Delgado said. “It’s funny. I’ve always made fun of these athletes when they retire. You see the speech, and they’re crying. I’m like, ‘Ah, what a sissy, I can’t believe he’s crying.’ Now, I’m in those shoes, and I know how they feel. It’s tough. It’s something you’ve done all your life. All my generation. I was like the Last of the Mohicans. I’ve got to step aside and let them do their thing.”
Delgado said he’s planning on training horses.
“It’s going to be tough not to be hard on these riders when they come back,” Delgado said with a laugh.
His advice to those young riders?
“Ride every race like it’s your last one.”
After the post-race interviews and standing ovations, Delgado, 61, put his arm around 17-year-old apprentice Yedsit Hazlewood, the leading rider at the Laurel Fall Meeting and a top contender for the 2025 Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice.
Delgado didn’t ride his first winner until Keelo Prince prevailed at Pimlico on April 12 of his rookie season. Hazlewood booted home his first April 4.
“I’m passing the torch,” Delgado said.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
