Jockey Del-Cid relocates to California

Vicente Del-Cid, the leading rider at three of the last four Thoroughbred meetings at Delta Downs in Louisiana, has moved to Santa Anita.

This weekend, Del-Cid is booked on one mount on Friday, She’s a Joker in the fifth race, and one mount on Saturday, Tiegarten in the fourth race.

At the Delta Downs meeting that began in October and ended last Saturday, Del-Cid won 129 races from 449 mounts, an impressive 28.7 percent winning percentage. Joel Dominguez was a distant second with 53 wins.

Del-Cid was leading rider at Delta Downs at the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 meetings and second at the 2024-2025 meeting. He was the leading rider at the 2022 and 2023 Thoroughbred meetings at Evangeline Downs.

Through Thursday, Del-Cid ranked third in the nation this year with 53 wins, seven less than leader Irad Ortiz Jr.

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Del-Cid, a native of Guatemala, has won 749 races since his career began in 2021. He was a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding apprentice of 2022. In California, Del-Cid will be represented by Ryan Glatt.

“He wanted to give this a try,” Glatt said on Thursday.

Del-Cid is the third rider to move to California in recent months, joining Emisael Jaramillo from Gulfstream Park and Florent Geroux from Fair Grounds. Through Thursday, Jaramillo ranked third in the standings with 22 wins, four less than leader Juan Hernandez.

Jaramillo began riding at Santa Anita when the current meeting opened on Dec. 28. Geroux moved to Santa Anita in early February and has won six races from 30 mounts.

Glatt said his father, the prominent trainer Mark Glatt, will support Del-Cid. On Saturday, Del-Cid is scheduled to be at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in San Diego County to work horses for Peter Miller, who trains She’s a Joker.

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