Robby J. Albarado (born September 11, 1973) is an AmericanThoroughbred horse racingjockey. He began riding at the age of 10 and progressed to riding atbush tracks in his nativeLouisiana by the age of 12. After turning professional, he earned his first official win atEvangeline Downs in 1990. Since then, he has won more than 5,000 races, but his career has endured setbacks as a result of serious injuries. During 1998 and 1999, he suffered twoskull fractures, one of which required doctors to replace a damaged portion of his skull withtitanium mesh andpolymer plate. Another serious accident in the fall of 2000 kept him out of racing for the better part of 2001.
Albarado's father was a jockey at the bush tracks in Louisiana[2] and Albarado grew up wanting to race horses. "It's my earliest memory, maybe when I was four, five, six years old," he said in 2007. "I started with basics: cleaning stalls, walking horses and doing whatever it took to be close to it. Eventually I graduated to galloping horses when I was 9, 10 years old. From that point on it's all I wanted to do."[3]
Albarado first began to ride at the age of 10, schooled by Shelton LeBlanc, a trainer in South Louisiana. Albarado began to ride at the Louisiana bush tracks at the age of 12 and turned professional at age 16.[2]
Albarado is currently married to Paige Albarado, who works for Myracehorse.com as Midwest racing manager.[4] They have a son.[5] He was previously married to Kimber Albarado, with whom he had three children, two sons, and a daughter.[6] He has twice been accused of minor domestic violence offenses, though the charges involving Kimber were subsequently dismissed.[7]
Albarado scored his first career win on June 29, 1990 aboard One Little Point atEvangeline Downs. His first stakes win came in 1993 with Tuck's Honey Bear atLouisiana Downs in the Grady Madden Memorial. In 1995, he earned his firstgraded stakes win aboard Snake Eyes in theStars and Stripes atArlington Park. His first Grade I victory came in the 1998Turf Classic atChurchill Downs on Joyeux Danseur.[2]
Albarado's career experienced a major setback when he suffered skull fractures in both 1998 and 1999, requiring surgery where a portion of his skull was replaced with a titanium mesh and polymer plate. He was sidelined for most of 2001 after a fall in late 2000.[3]
In 2003, he received his big break when he got the mount aboardMineshaft, who scored four grade I wins including theJockey Club Gold Cup on his way to winning theEclipse Award for Horse of the Year. In 2005, the pair were inducted into the Fair Grounds Racing Hall of Fame. At the time of his induction, Albarado had won a record seven riding titles at the race course.[8]
Albarado was voted the winner of the 2004George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award.[9] That year, on December 8, he picked up his 3,000th career win aboard Isle of Silver in theFair Grounds Race Course inNew Orleans.[10]
He was the regular jockey forCurlin, who was the favorite and finished third in the 2007Kentucky Derby. Albarado won his firstTriple Crown race at the 2007Preakness Stakes aboardCurlin, edging out Derby winnerStreet Sense. The pair was denied victory at the 2007Belmont Stakes when Curlin lost to champion fillyRags to Riches by a nose. Albarado later won the 2007Breeders' Cup Classic aboard Curlin, which was his first Breeders' Cup win. The two combined to win theDubai World Cup in 2008.[11]
On May 30, 2009, he recorded the 4,000th win of his career, guiding Keertana to victory on theMatt Winn Turf Course in the 9th race atChurchill Downs.
In 2011, Albarado was scheduled to rideAnimal Kingdom in the Kentucky Derby but was replaced because of injuries he suffered in a fall three days before the race. Animal Kingdom went on to win the Derby with replacement rider John Velazquez.[12] In 2013, Albarado finished second in the Derby aboard Golden Soul.[1]
As of January 2017[update], Albarado is the third-leading rider of all time at Churchill Downs, ranking behind only Hall of FamersPat Day andCalvin Borel. He earned his 1,000th win at Churchill Downs on November 13, 2014. In 2008, he won the spring meet riding title with 73 wins. He has finished second in the standings seven times and in the top five 23 times.[13]
On January 22, 2017, Albarado achieved the 5,000th win of his career, guiding Vivacious V. V. to victory in the 1st race at Fair Grounds Race Course.[4] "It helps with the right horses, of course but I feel like I'm more comfortable out there and I'm making good decisions," he said in the days leading up to the milestone. "My agent Lenny (Pike) and I have been together for over 20 years and we have a great relationship and we feel great about how things are going. We are going after the right opportunities and the right spots."[11]
On October 3, 2020, Albarado rode winnerSwiss Skydiver in the2020 Preakness Stakes.[14]
On December 11, 2021, Albarado rode in his last career race atTurfway Park[15] As of 2023, he still debates becoming an agent for jockeys.[16]
| Year-end ranking (2000–present) | By earnings[1] |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 14 |
| 2001 | 9 |
| 2002 | 12 |
| 2003 | 11 |
| 2004 | 16 |
| 2005 | 11 |
| 2006 | 13 |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2008 | 8 |
| 2009 | 9 |
| 2010 | 8 |
| 2011 | 32 |
| 2012 | 48 |
| 2013 | 23 |
| 2014 | 32 |
| 2015 | 27 |
| 2016 | 20 |