Air Albert: 21 wins in 2006 and still going
November 29, 2006,by Dean A. Hoffman
Air Albert thinks he’s special. And he is.
The 14-year-old gelding has won 21 races this year, making him the winningest horse in North America. In fact, in the past two years Air Albert has won 35 times, not bad for an old warrior with four screws in one pastern.
Mark Mayes of Michigan enjoys racing Air Albert at Raceway Park in Toledo because the old horse can go in a $2,000 claimer and win with consistency.
“No one’s gonna claim him because he’s 14, and he’s only got a few more races to go,” Mayes admitted. “Winning all these races has made him really cocky, and that attitude helps him on the track.”
Air Albert has his share of aches and pain, as do many veteran horses.
“He’s got bad ankles from where they had to put those screws in,” Mayes said. “I’m sure he’s got some arthritis, too, from age. He’s not really any sounder now than he’s ever been, but I can get him into races where he doesn’t have to go quite as fast.”
In his prime, Air Albert paced to a 1:53.2f mark at Pompano and earned $58,229 in a single season. That was back in 2000 when he was a mere 8-year-old. His career earnings are now $278,222, but his 21 victories this year have brought him only $18,620.
“I’ve had him the last two years,” Mayes said. “We bought him from Tony Morgan. He really loved this horse, but he knew that he couldn’t go fast miles week after week or he’d break down. So he sold him to us so that we could race him in Ohio and Michigan.”
Mayes says that he keeps Air Albert fit by swimming him in the pool at his training facility in Michigan.
Winningest horses in North America in 2006Name Age Sex Gait Sts 1st Earnings Record AIR ALBERT 14 G P 40 21 $ 18,620 1:59.1 TWEEDLE DUM 6 G T 29 19 $ 103,005 1:53.3 PERCEE ANGUS 4 M P 35 19 $ 76,979 1:52.4 MISSY’S FAME 6 M P 38 19 $ 67,892 1:54.3 PAPER BRANCH 10 G P 33 19 $ 24,557 1:55.4 I’M FASTER 3 G P 25 18 $ 86,775 1:53.4 STREET DANCER 3 M P 23 17 $ 293,245 1:50.3 YANKEE MONACO 5 M T 36 17 $ 124,638 1:56.2 MICHAEL SCORES 5 G P 34 17 $ 106,590 1:52.1 OPTIMIST N 7 G P 34 17 $ 76,464 1:53.0 I C LINDA 3 M P 29 17 $ 33,818 1:56.4 SILKY SAILOR 6 M P 35 17 $ 21,996 1:56.4
“He’s very nice to drive, just like a Cadillac,” he said. “I like to go to the front and control the pace so he doesn’t go fast fractions, but you could probably tie the lines to the sulky seat and he’d race just fine. He’s smarter than I am out there.”
In his career, Air Albert has raced 381 times, so he certainly knows his way around a racetrack. He’s a son of Albert Albert from the Oil Burner mare Belle Paloma, and has raced every season since he was a 2-year-old.
“He’s like the stable mascot,” Mayes said. “Everyone wants to be around a horse that’s won 21 races this year. Everyone likes him. He always tries in his races. We’ll turn him out with other horses between and those 3-year-olds getting to running around like crazy. He’ll run with them for a while just to show them that he’s not too old for that, then he eases off.”
Mayes says that he plans to race Air Albert until the end of the year, and would like to send him out with some fanfare in a race for 14-year-olds if he can find one.
When the calendar page turns to January, Air Albert will begin a new career as a pleasure horse for an employee of Jackson Raceway. After more than 90 career wins, he’s certainly earned the right to a pleasant retirement.