Robby Albarado takes Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan over the track during a training session ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 15, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Credit: Rob Carr/Getty Images)
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Former jockey Robby Albarado, a two-time Preakness Stakes winner and one of horse racing’s most accomplished riders, has died at the age of 52.
Churchill Downs confirmed Albarado’s death after receiving word from several of his family members and close friends.
Former jockey Robby Albarado dies
What they’re saying:
According to trainer Kenny McPeek, Albarado had recently been hospitalized for a procedure to insert a heart stent to treat a blockage near his heart.
Following his retirement from racing in 2022, Albarado had been working as an exercise rider for McPeek.
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“Saying goodbye to someone who left us too soon is extremely difficult,” Churchill Downs president Mike Anderson said in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to his family and numerous friends.”
Robby Albarado’s legacy
Dig deeper:
A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, Albarado enjoyed a distinguished career spanning more than three decades, earning more than 5,000 victories and more than $221 million in purse earnings.
He rode in over 34,000 races after beginning his career on Louisiana’s bush tracks before turning professional.
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Among his greatest achievements were victories in the 2007 Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic aboard Curlin, one of the sport’s most celebrated racehorses. He claimed his second Preakness title in 2020 when he guided filly Swiss Skydiver to an upset victory in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Albarado also collected two additional Breeders’ Cup wins during his career.
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