BALTIMORE (AP) - Robby Albarado had never entered the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle during two decades as a jockey that included more than 34,000 races and 5,000 victories.
Robby Albarado is ‘living vicariously’ through Mystik Dan from the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness
BALTIMORE (AP) - Robby Albarado had never entered the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle during two decades as a jockey that included more than 34,000 races and 5,000 victories.
It’s bad luck in that profession to go in without winning that prestigious race, though he did not mind breaking that superstition earlier this month.
Now 50, his first trip came in the latest phase of his career when Mystik Dan finished first in the Derby by a nose, ridden not by Albarado but by Brian Hernandez Jr. But Albarado has been part of the team since Mystik Dan was a 2-year-old, riding him in the mornings in training after seeing something special from the colt’s first workout.
The Derby victory proved Albardo’s suspicions correct, and he has now become exercise rider to the newest star in horse racing. He’s again taking to the track aboard Mystik Dan this week in preparation for the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown he has won twice.