Page 180 - February 2021

THE BACKSIDE
MARIO DELGADO
“Ever since I climbed on a horse, that’s all I wanted to ever do.”
Mario Delgado always knew he wanted to be a professional jockey. Since making his first out in September of 2013, he has been living the dream.
“Ever since I climbed on a horse, that’s all
I wanted to ever do,” Delgado said. “Since I was a kid people asked me, ‘What do you want to do?’ I’d tell them I want to be a champion jockey. I wanted to ride horses and that’s what I wanted to do for a living.”
A Jockey’s Perspective
by John Moorehouse
Mario aboard JC Wild Rose winning the Adequan Will Rogers Downs Derby Challenge.
178 SPEEDHORSE February 2021
HOME BASE:
Cleveland, OK
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 8
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
AQHA Regional Champion and AQHA Regional High Point Champion jockey in Oklahoma in 2017. Won the 2019 running
of the Speedhorse Futurity-G3. “I’ve always wanted to win the Speedhorse and I was able to get that done last year with Tempted Seis.”
FAVORITE HOBBY:
“Honestly, I’m at the barn with my dad,
or I take my son with me to the barn. We saddle up and go riding or go and hang out with all my other family, riding the horses all together.”
D
elgado is continuing to climb the ranks in his quest to be one of the top jockeys
in the Quarter Horse world. In total, he has ridden the winners of nearly $8 million in earnings. In 2020, according to Equibase, he finished the year 14th in earnings and 15th in victories, both career bests. Delgado raced for $1.36 million in prize money in 2020, the third time in a four-year span he’s cracked the million-dollar plateau. The Oklahoma native