Delgado Retires As Rider, Pursues Training Career

Maryland mainstay Alberto Delgado, 61, who earned Eclipse Award honors as the Champion Apprentice Jockey in 1982, has announced his retirement and said he will become a trainer based in Maryland.

“It has been coming for a long time,” Delgado said. “Over the years, I retired, but never because I wanted to. It was because of injuries and 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.”

Delgado, a second-generation jockey from Carolina, Puerto Rico, won 245 races during his Eclipse Award-winning season. On Aug. 16, he rode five consecutive winners at Delaware Park, then drove to the Maryland State Fair at Timonium, where he swept the late daily double. Delgado surpassed the 200-win mark in each of the next four years.

Delgado won more than 120 races annually from 1993 to 1996. In 1995, he guided Oliver’s Twist to victory in the Grade III Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. Four weeks later, Delgado and Oliver’s Twist finished second in the Grade I Preakness Stakes.

Delgado retires with a record of 2,951 wins from 25,534 rides and career earnings of $42,072,982. He earned 115 stakes victories, including 10 graded triumphs, and captured five Maryland Million races.

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