TBP: Where were you born and raised Bill, are you originally from California?

BD: I was born in Newark, New Jersey. I stayed there till I was ten, then the family moved to California. I haven't been back to Jersey since.

TBP: How did you get interested in racing?

BD: Well I was real tiny, and my aunt and uncle who were racing fans said I should look into being a jockey because I was so small. I didn't even know what a jockey was, so they took me to the races at Santa Anita and I was immediately hooked. From that day on all I thought about was the racetrack and the horses.

TBP: Who were some of the famous horses and characters that you remember from those times?

BD: I was a huge fan of Bill Shoemaker who I idolized. Of the horses, there were horses like Prove It, Olden Times trained by Rex Elsworth, he was a monster of a horse, Candy Spots, Gunbow, they were all tremendous animals, I used to love the Elsworth horses. Eddie Arcaro was riding then, Hartack, Eddie Belmonte, Johnny Longdon, Johnny used to ride a good horse called George Roe who I liked a lot, they were top notch guys. There were a lot of good horses around, they were tough old dudes.

TBP: Do you think horses like that were tougher and ran more often than horses today?

BD: I think they possibly lasted longer because we didn't have as much racing in those days. There were breaks in between meetings and the schedule wasn't non stop like it is today. Horses got time off.

TBP: So how did you get your first job in racing?

BD: Well it was tough at first because to get into racing you really had to know somebody, and I didn't know anybody...  I tried to get into a jockeys school at Rex Elsworth's ranch but I couldn't get in there. So time went by, I was working at a pizza place and one day a regular customer who had a flower shop across the street told me he knew a guy who had some horses and he introduced me. The guy asks me "What size shoe do you wear and what do you weigh?" I said "I wear a five and a half shoe and I weigh 95 pounds". He said "Be at Pep Road in El Monte at 5am tomorrow morning."

He had a couple of mares at a boarding facility there. I went along and he put me up on a mare in foal, bareback and she just walked around the arena in the dark with me. After that first day he asked me if I wanted to go back the next day and I said yes. When I showed up again on the third day he said to me that I might make it, because most people had normally quit by then. Then he taught me how to groom and handle horses, and I progressed to jogging on the mare. A few weeks later he put me on a three year old filly that used to buck me off all the time, but I just kept getting back on.

She was my ticket to getting into Santa Anita, as when she went to the track I used to go and take care of her in the mornings there and then I got a full groom's job there. I started breaking horses which they did back at Santa Anita in those days, and then I started getting on babies, and started galloping them on the track. That's how I learned to gallop, and then I started to work some horses and things went from there. 

TBP: How did you get your first ride in a race?

BD: I started working for Farrell "F.W." Jones, who was Gary Jones's dad. I was working all of his horses and learned a lot with him. An agent called Alan Grey took me on as a rider and said he wanted to get me on a few horses at Agua Caliente. I stayed in San Isidro, which was literally about 50 yards from the border, and we used to go over the border every morning. I rode about 20 races there but didn't ride a winner. Then I came back to Del Mar and Farrell Jones gave me a few rides. I came up to Bay Meadows and on September 18th 1968 I rode my first winner, a horse called Pesty Knight trained by Keith Stucke. He was even money favorite and I won by 5 lengths. It was a great feeling. Then I rode a winner at Santa Anita for Farrell called Polly Pie, after which I moved back up to Northern California permanently. Bob Hack who was a top agent had my book, things started to roll and I rode the Northern CA circuit for the next 20 years.

TBP: Who were some of your favorite horses that you rode?

BD: There was a horse called Baron of Dublin owned by Bart Heller who was a very nice horse. I rode him to win several stakes races and he almost went to the Kentucky Derby. He was trained by Bill Mastrangelo who I rode a lot of winners for.  I remember riding a real hard trier called Score and Win who after starting off as a $4000 claimer went on to win seven races in a row and a couple of stakes. He was a tough old campaigner who always ran well even though he had a long term knee problem. I rode another big hearted horse called Brown Giant who I won nine or ten races on including a stakes race at a mile and a quarter at Golden Gate. Leo's Aussie was another one of my favorites, a hard knocker who I won on at Santa Anita as well as at Golden Gate and Bay Meadows. In those days though we weren't running for the same kind of money that we are today, so horses didn't earn as much relatively as they do now.

TBP: Did you have any bad falls or injuries riding?

BD: I was pretty lucky, I had a few falls and the worst was when I came off and compressed some vertebrae in my back at Golden Gate in 1983. I was off about three months but it could have been a lot more serious. Other than that I got busted up a few other times, broke a few fingers, broke my knee etc..

TBP: So then you started training, how did that come about?

BD: When I was riding a couple of people told me that they would send me a horse or two if I started training and I wanted to train, so while I was still riding I got a trainers licence and started off with one horse, a horse called Scissor Bill in 1984. He was a real honorary character but he gave me my first winner as a trainer. Then I started getting a few more horses and I finished riding altogether. I had a barn of around 12 and we would move the barn to Bay Meadows when that meet was on and move back to Golden Gate when that was on.

TBP: Did you prefer riding to training?

BD: Well I loved riding, I always knew it couldn't last forever but I enjoyed the thrill and the fact that it was just me and the horse. I enjoyed that connection in the race and when you won everybody loved you. But sometimes you're the flavor of the month and sometime you're not. Your business can fluctuate a lot it and it can wear on you and you can burn out. But I always wanted to train and I really enjoy training too, it's just a different kind of deal.

TBP: What parts of training do you enjoy the most?

BD:  I love claiming horses and moving them up, that's exciting, I've done a lot of that, and I like to go to the sales to find inexpensive young horses and develop them and see them do well. It can be a bit like developing your kids, it is very satisfying when it works out and it's a different kind of high to riding.

TBP: What parts of the job can you perhaps do without?

BD: Sometimes in this business you can get some people who are a little flakey or who can't take the lows as well as the highs. It's a roller coaster business and you have to be able to roll with the punches. You have to be a good winner and you have to be a good loser. If you can't be a good loser this is the wrong business to be in. Some owners don't understand that a horse is a fragile athlete and isn't a car that you can start up and turn off at will, there are so many things that can happen to a horse, it's good to have owners who understand that.

TBP: Of the horses you have trained tell us about some of your favorites.

BD: Bai and Bai was probably my favorite. We bought her for just $3200 at a sale at Pleasanton, and we sold her for half a million dollars after she had won several stakes races and $300,000. We actually nearly lost her when we ran her second time out in a $32,000 claimer, someone was going to claim her but they tore up the claiming slip when they didn't like the way she was acting in  the paddock. She won that race and then just improved and improved. She carried on racing for the new owners and did very well too.

Another favorite was a horse called I'm A Jewel, a horse I bought for $6000 after he had run second in an $8000 maiden claimer. Skinny little three year old at the time. I talked to three or four of my clients about buying a share and none of them were interested. Then I finally sold 50% to another client, we ran him for $12,500 and he won. I was looking for a claiming race next time out for him but there wasn't anything suitable, so I ran him in an allowance race and he ran pretty well. Then I switched him to the turf at Bay Meadows, he was 50-1 but came with a late run and was only beaten half a length. He improved hugely and won two or three nice races, and then I decided that we should probably take a shot in the California Derby, which was a $200,000 race then in 1997. We ran him and he was 19 lengths off the pace going down the back side. He came running, circled the field and won by a length and a half. Thirty minutes later I won the other stakes race on the card with a filly called Truce and Balance. There was a huge party that night.

I trained a tiny horse who had a huge heart called Motel Staff who won a lot of races when I switched him to the turf. He showed up every time and we won a lot of money with him. He didn't know how to run a bad race. He did well and went on to run and win until he was 12 years old.

TBP: What horses have you had that could have been top runners but didn't get to show it?

BD: Possibly the one that had the most unfulfilled potential was a filly who could really run called Agitated Girl, a big beautiful thing who broke her maiden in a good time and had the potential to be a very nice stakes filly, but she got a tendon injury shortly after and she never got the chance to show what she could really do.

TBP: Why are you known as "Wild" Bill Delia?

BD: Well, it started when I was a young rider, it was nothing too crazy but I had a reputation for being a bit of a party animal, tearing it up and dancing on tables and stuff. People started calling me "Wild" Bill and it just stuck.

TBP: What changes have you seen here at Golden Gate Fields in recent years?

BD: Well I am not a big fan of synthetics generally, but I do like the synthetic track here for the fact that we don't have the same problems when it rains as we used to with the dirt track. This Tapeta track can take a lot of water and doesn't get sloppy or muddy.

Simulcasting wasn't in place when I started training, it has been good for the game in some ways of course but now people can bet from anywhere and don't have to come to the track, it's a shame to see how empty the stands are on some race days. We used to get great big crowds all the time and it was a lot of fun. But it still is a lot of fun. I just love horse racing - I've been in it for forty seven years now and I'm not leaving it till I fall over dead.

 

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