Delgado chasing first G1 victory in $1M Pegasus Turf
At 0h34, on January 25, 2024 • By GULFSTREAM
When trainer Jorge Delgado first went out on his own in 2017, he had two horses worth about $2,000 by his own estimate and he worked as his own groom. Seven years later he is a stakes winner at nine different tracks including such historic venues as Keeneland, Pimlico, Saratoga and Gulfstream Park.
Three of Delgado’s stakes wins have come in graded company – the Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico with Lightening Larry and Smile Sprint (G3) at Gulfstream with Willy Boi, both in 2022, and last summer’s Amsterdam (G2) at Saratoga with New York Thunder. The native of Maracaibo, Venezuela will be chasing his first Grade 1 success with AMO Racing USA’s Kingmax in Saturday’s $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) Invitational.
The 1 1/8-mile Pegasus Turf for 4-year-olds and up is one of seven graded-stakes worth $5.2 million in purses on a spectacular 13-race program highlighted by the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Invitational presented by Baccarat and $500,000 TAA Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G2).
“It’s unbelievable. It’s surreal. You look back seven years ago and you wouldn’t think something like this could happen, and now it’s happening,” Delgado said. “Everything is happening so fast. You have highs and lows, and you have to enjoy the highs and embrace them because there’s not many.”
Delgado has been doing that since first coming to the U.S. and working under his uncle, Gulfstream-based Gustavo Delagado, the trainer of 2023 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage.
In 2022 Delgado set career highs with 84 wins, 336 starters and more than $3.1 million in purse earnings. Last year he won 64 of 302 races and nearly $2.8 million. Other stakes wins have come at Delaware Park, Laurel Park, Monmouth Park, Tampa Bay Downs and Woodbine.
Bred in Ireland, Kingmax comes into the Pegasus Turf having come up a head short of winner Main Event following an outside rally in the 1 1/8-mile Fort Lauderdale Dec. 30, Gulfstream’s local prep. It came under British jockey David Egan, who Delgado has given the return call.
“The horse got a race over the track and it’s also important that the jockey already knows the horse,” Delgado said. “The last time was the first time he rode the horse in the U.S., so I think that’s going to give him a good perspective going into this next race.”
Egan had ridden Kingmax to victory in the Unibet Novice Stakes in March 2022 at Kempton in England. It was the 5-year-old horse’s only win in seven tries before coming to the U.S., where he won each of his first two races going 1 1/16 miles on the Monmouth turf before finishing a distant fifth in the Seagram Cup (G2) on Woodbine’s all-weather surface.
“I got him last summer and he ran a couple times at Monmouth, ran well and won both times. We sent him to Woodbine for the Grade 2 and he didn’t care for the synthetic,” Delgado said. “Since he came back he’s been doing very well. I believe that the distance, the surface and everything is good for him, so I think he’s going to run a good race.”
“On the racetrack he’s easy to handle, very professional. It took me a while to get him going. He didn’t race for almost a year, so it took some time to get him in shape and prepare him,” he added. “I think we did things right. We gave him a couple of allowances first to help him gain some confidence, and now he’s in his best shape.”
