Former jockey, trainer Delia dies at 75

William “Bill” Delia, a former jockey who became a trainer and was always one of the most-popular figures in Northern California racing, died Thursday at age 75 from complications of COVID-19, according to a press release Friday from Golden Gate Fields.

Delia won 975 races and his horses earned $16.7 million during a training career that began in 1985 after he retired from race riding. One of his biggest wins came in 1997, when I’m a Jewel won the California Derby, then a Grade 3 event.

He was the trainer and co-owner of the mare Central Heat, who won the Golden Poppy at Golden Gate in 2015 and 2016 and the Luther Burbank at Santa Rosa in 2015. In 2005, Delia won the California Cup Juvenile Fillies with Bai and Bai, who won three more stakes for Delia before a private purchase by Bob and Beverly Lewis moved her to the barn of Craig Dollase. A decade earlier, Delia sent out the mare Truce in Balance – who ran 73 times – to stakes wins in the Sonoma Handicap at Golden Gate in 1997 and Bay Meadows Dash in 1996.

Delia had his best year in 2016, when his runners topped $1 million and he won 63 races, both single-season bests for him.

In 2019, Delia was named the trainer of the year by the California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. That year, he won the Gold Rush Stakes and Golden Nugget at Golden Gate with Better Trip Nick.

As a jockey, Delia won 304 races from 1976 through 1985, according to Equibase. During that span, he won a seasonal best 54 races in 1977, and his best year in terms of purse earnings was 1982, when his mounts earned $446,065.

His career began in 1966 as an apprentice. He was particularly close friends with the late Lewis Cenicola, a jockey turned trainer who died a little more than 10 years ago.

“As you can imagine, our racing family here at Golden Gate is deeply saddened,” Golden Gate Fields general manager David Duggan said in a press release. “He was one guy you looked forward to seeing every morning. He was a hard worker that loved horses and racing. He had fantastic stories to share and a great sense of humor. With the news of Bill’s passing comes a dark shadow that has been cast on our backstretch this morning.”