$625K Buy Spectacular Grey Runs in Colleen for Delgado

As recently as last year, Alexis Delgado was driving an Uber in Florida. On July 27, he sends out a recent $625,000 purchase when Spectacular Grey takes on 10 other 2-year-old fillies in the $100,000 Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park. It's a lifestyle change the 42-year-old trainer from Caracas, Venezuela, only needs one word to describe. "Unbelievable," he said. Spectacular Grey, a Kentucky-bred daughter by Not This Time out of Rose Grey, dazzled in her debut at Monmouth July 12 with a breathtaking middle move that ended with a 7 3/4-length victory against maiden special weight company. On July 25, she was the sale topper in the Fasig-Tipton July Digital Sale at $625,000. Delgado wasn't sure if new owners Epic Horses would keep him on as the trainer, but an immediate phone call allayed any concerns. New ownership cited his success as a trainer in the United States from 2017-21, including winning the 2019 Davona Dale Stakes (G2) with Jeltrin at Gulfstream Park. "It's a great opportunity for me," Delgado said. "For me to come back to training and to get a horse like this is unbelievable. The new owners called and said 'We saw the success you had in 2019. We want you to continue training this filly.' I am very grateful to them for that." Delgado, who has 42 career wins, stopped training from 2022-24, he said, because of economic and family reasons, working as an Uber driver during that time. A call from two owners willing to give him horses if he returned to training convinced him to try again. He has started three horses during his comeback, winning with two of them. "Now my life is crazy," he said. "Training horses is my life. It's what I have always wanted to do." Spectacular Grey not only faces a competitive test July 27—trainer Wesley Ward has entered three in the race—but a surface change. The five-furlong Colleen is on the grass. "The old owners (III Beauty's Thoroughbred) always wanted to try her on the grass, but I said to them 'give me one opportunity on the dirt with her,'" Delgado said. "She ran an unbelievable race. She has always shown talent in the morning. She is a special filly. I don't think she was 100% as far as her conditioning for her first race... But she is 100% now." Though Spectacular Grey has never even worked on the grass, Delgado said "her pedigree says she will like the grass." "They want to see if she is good enough to try a race at Kentucky Downs," he added. "We have to see how she does, but I'm very excited to watch her race again. This is a good field she will be facing. It's not easy. There are a lot of fast fillies in this race. But I think she is ready for it."