DEL MAR — The phrase has become a mantra for Serafin Carmona.

“It’s never too late … I tell myself that all the time,” Carmona said Friday afternoon between races at Del Mar.

Carmona is a rookie jockey … an “apprentice” in horse racing terms. He is also 37 years old and didn’t compete in his first race until he was 36 in a sport where most riders begin as teenagers.

However, he is not new to the sport. Carmona spent 14 years as an exercise rider at Southern California tracks after arriving from his native Panama in 2009.

“I knew I was a good hand with horses,” said Carmona. “I would exercise 14, 15 horses a day. I broke in babies and worked with horses who were tougher to handle. Trainers liked me. I was good at what I did. I worked with many of the best trainers in the sport.”

Which created a problem. Carmona was making consistent money as an exercise rider. And he had responsibilities. He had a fiancée and a child. There were monthly rent and car payments, food to buy.

“It’s easier to take a gamble when you are 17 or 18 with no responsibilities,” he said.

And Carmona was experiencing “many ups and downs” with his body. His weight would climb into the 130s, too heavy to be a jockey.

“I would try to lose weight,” said Carmona. “It was dangerous. Starvation mode is not the best idea. And I was making money doing what I was doing, knowing that as a jockey I might make nothing. I was happy doing what I was doing … but there was that little voice.

“Always in my heart, there was the question: ‘Could I do it as a jockey?’ I worried I was also too old.”

Last year, the question became louder in his head.

“I changed my diet and started controlling my weight without starving,” he said. “I became more open to the idea of racing.”

And not only did the voice in his head become louder, it sang out in stereo.

Carmona’s fiancée, Sofia Barandela, was already an active jockey. “She would say left and right, ‘Go for it … test yourself.’ She is my biggest fan. I thought maybe I should try being a jockey … a last-dance thing.”

Finally, he went for it. Carmona made his jockey debut on July 26, 2023, at Canterbury Park in Minnesota at the ripe young age of 36..

The results: None at first. He went more than 100 races before his first win.

“It was disappointing,” Carmona said. “I’d go out every day hoping one of those longsho ts I was riding would win.”

Carmona’s first win finally came Jan. 28 at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans. Since then, he scored 73 more wins in 2024 and finished second in the 2024 jockey standings at Canterbury. He returned to Southern California in September and has won three races during the Del Mar fall meeting.

“I’m happy the way things are going,” said Carmona. “I’m getting some support from trainers. I have a great and supporting agent (Chuck Costanza). I still help some in the mornings. My age is not an issue. My body is physically younger than most jockeys my age.

“I feel blessed. I’m so glad this has happened the way it has happened.”

Originally Published: November 15, 2024 at 4:22 PM PST