Robby Albarado

Robby Albarado

Birthdate: Sept. 11, 1973, Lafayette, La.

Residence: Louisville, KY

• Jockey Robby Albarado, Oaklawn’s leading rider in 1996 and ’97, has returned for the 2013 meet on a mission to recapture the title. Through the first five days of racing, he had already won 10 races, six more than his nearest competitor.
• Is best known to Oaklawn fans as the regular rider of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, who won Oaklawn’s 2007 Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby. Was also the regular rider of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft.
• Won his third Breeders’ Cup race in 2011 when he guided 64-1 longshot Court Vision to victory in the Mile. His first Breeders’ Cup victory came in the 2007, $5 million Classic aboard Curlin and two years later, he won the Juvenile Fillies Turf with Tapitsfly.
• In addition to his riding titles at Oaklawn, Albarado has also been leading rider at Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Fair Grounds and Arlington Park.
• Like many jockeys from the Lafayette, Louisiana region, Albarado was riding races at “bush” tracks – non-sanctioned tracks without legal wagering – years before obtaining his jockey’s license at age 16. At less than 10 years old, Albarado learned the basics of horsemanship from his neighbors who trained Thoroughbreds.