Agapito Delgadillo and Bill Spawr have a relationship of mutual
respect. Together, the 46-year-old jockey and the 73-year-old trainer
are one of the best-kept secrets outside of racing cognoscenti, but the
facts are these: through 35 days of Santa Anita’s 71-day meet, Spawr has
won with 28 percent of his starters (seven for 25), with Delgadillo
winning on six of the 18 horses he has ridden for Spawr.
“He’s a good horseman,” Spawr said of Delgadillo, whose agent is
Saul Marquez. “Agapito reminds me of Laffit (Pincay Jr.). He’s that
kind of rider. He can come back and tell you something about a horse you
wouldn’t expect him to know just from one ride. How? It’s called
experience.
“I’m the trainer. I know. He shouldn’t know just being on a horse one time, but he does.”
Delgadillo had 10 wins, seven seconds and 11 thirds from 67 mounts through Monday, with six of the wins for Spawr.
“When I work his horses in the mornings, I get to know them,”
Delgadillo said. “Bill knows what he’s doing. He’s a very good trainer.
It’s not too tough for me to win races for people like him.
“I won a race for him at Fairplex a couple years ago and I think
that’s how I got his attention. Then, little by little, I rode more and
more for him and we’ve done very well together.”