Tom Albertrani retires; trained champion Bernardini

Tom Albertrani, a former jockey-turned-trainer who worked with champions such as Cigar and Bernardini, has retired from training horses.

Albertrani, 66, started his last horse on Saturday at Keeneland when Sterling Silver finished fourth in the Grade 1 Madison. Albertrani had been thinking of retiring since last fall. His stable was down to about a dozen horses. He won three races from 18 starters at Tampa Bay Downs this winter.

“The stable is dwindling down a bit, don’t have the horse power that we had years ago,” he said. “I always wanted to retire early so I could do some things. Luckily, I’ve been healthy enough to do some things I want to do, maybe travel.”

Albertrani, in North America, won 624 races from 4,665 starters over a 20-year career. His horses earned $51,365,671 in purse money.

Albertrani started working with horses as a teenager, walking horses for his uncle, trainer Jack Abetemarco at Belmont Park. Albertrani was a jockey from 1977-82, winning 49 races, mostly as an apprentice. He worked as an exercise rider for Bill Mott and then became Mott’s assistant in 1986.

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While with Mott, Albertrani worked around a plethora of stakes winners, including Cigar, who he rode as an exercise rider before that horse began his 16-race winning streak that landed him in the Hall of Fame.

Albertrani wasn’t with Mott for most of Cigar’s run in 1995, as he was hired as an assistant to Saeed bin Suroor, the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Godolphin Racing in the United Arab Emirates.

“That was an opportunity of a lifetime,” Albertrani said.

Albertrani returned to the U.S. in 2003, training horses for Darley Stable, which was Godolphin’s U.S. operation. Among the horses he trained for Darley was Bernardini, who in 2006 won the Preakness, Jim Dandy, Travers, and Jockey Club Gold Cup and was voted champion 3-year-old male.

“He was the highlight, of course,” Albertrani said. “Sadler’s Joy, Twilight Eclipse, there’s a pretty long list. Had a great career, loved every moment.”

Sadler’s Joy, owned by Woodslane Farm, and Twilight Eclipse, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, each won Grade 1 stakes. Other Grade 1 winners trained by Albertrani were Better Lucky, Brilliant Speed, Balletto, Gozzip Girl, and Zo Impressive.

Albertrani and his wife Fiona sold their home on Long Island and moved to Palm Harbor, Fla., near Tampa.

Albertrani said he would keep his hand in the industry with the mare he trained and partly owned Itsakeyper, a New York-bred who earned $310,735 after making 42 starts. Albertrani said that mare is bred to Annapolis and he will likely sell the foal.

Albertrani did not rule out a return to the backside at some point, perhaps assisting a trainer who might want to base at Tampa.

“I’m open for that,” he said. “I just want to take a little break.”

Albertrani’s current horses will be dispersed to a variety of trainers. Sterling Silver is going to Lance Rutledge, Albertrani said.

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