It’s too bad that no news outlet had a reporter stationed in the jockeys’ room during the 137th Kentucky Derby because it would have been priceless to watch the reaction of Robby Albardo as Animal Kingdom, the horse he was supposed to be riding, won the roses with John Velasquez in the saddle.

Albarado rode the colt in his first two starts, but wasn’t aboard when Animal Kingdom got his Derby ticket punched by winning the Spiral Stakes on March 13 at Turfway Park. His rider that day was Alan Garcia, who was so, uh, impressed with Animal Kingdom that he gave up the mount for the Derby to ride Soldat, the beaten favorite in the Florida Derby.

So after consulting with trainer Graham Motion, Barry Irwin, who manages the 20-person Team Valor syndicate that owns Animal Kingdom, went back to Albarado for the Derby. Except that on the Wednesday before the Run for the Roses, Albarado got thrown from a horse and kicked in the face, breaking his nose and putting him out of action for the next two days.

For Motion, the injury to Animal Kingdom’s jockey was the second major blow of the week. On Tuesday, Toby’s Corner, the Wood Memorial winner and Motion’s top-rated Derby prospect, had been declared out of the Run for the Roses because of a minor training injury.

On Friday, while Irwin still was trying to decide whether to stick with an Albarado who might be less than 100 per cent or pick a new rider, the earth moved again when owner Mike Repole scratched Uncle Mo, the defending juvenile champion who had not bounced back from the intestinal problem that apparently got him beat in the Wood.

While it was the right decision for Uncle Mo, it was a cruel blow for Velasquez, who had seen potential Derby victories snatched away the previous two years when contenders he was riding were scratched due to injuries. But almost before Velasquez had time to brood about it, Irwin contacted his agent to see if he wanted to ride Animal Kingdom.

For Irwin, it was nothing strictly a business decision, nothing personal against Albarado. He decided it was better to have Velasquez at 100 per cent that Albarado wearing a special visor to protect his fact. Almost ghoulishly, the stitches on Alabarado’s face traced the outline of a horse’s hoof.

When Albarado won a stakes race early on the Derby card, it momentarily left Irwin open to second-guessing in the pressbox. But the record crowd of more than 164,000 seemed to be oblivious to the behind-the-scenes drama. The jockeys that most had on their minds were Rosie Napravnik, who was riding Pants On Fire in her attempt to become the first female rider to win the Derby, and Calvin Borel, who was going after his second consecutive Derby and fourth in five years aboard the longshot Twice the Appeal.

Indeed, the crowd pounded down the odds on both Pants on Fire and Twice The Appeal to far lower than they should have been, given the horses’ past performances. At posttime, Dialed In was a lukewarm 5-to-1 favorite off his come-from-behind win in the Florida Derby, but many liked Archarcharch, the Arkansas Derby winner and first Kentucky Derby entrant for trainer William “Jinx” Fires, a Churchill fixture since 1961.

Alas for Fires, Archarcharch broke awkwardly, perhaps suffering the condylar fracture of his left front leg that caused him to be retired on the Tuesday after the Derby. As if that weren’t disaster enough, his saddled slipped at some point on the backstretch, forcing jockey Jon Courts to move up almost on his neck. And then, said Court, the colt took a “bad step” at about the 16th pole.

While all this was happening at the rear of the pack, Shackleford led the field through a dawdling half-mile in 48 seconds and change. The lack of pace put Shackleford in position to conserve enough energy to “steal” the race from Dialed In and other come-from-behind horses.

Unnoticed as he ran along in the middle of the pack, some eight or 10 lengths off the leader, Animal Kingdom was showing Velasquez, riding him for the first time, that he might be better than the jockey had thought. When Velasquez asked him to run at about the 5/8ths pole, the unfashionably bred colt (by the Brazilian-bred miler Leroidesanimaux out of the German-bred mare Dalicia) began a move that carried him to the lead deep in the long Churchill Downs stretch.

At the wire, Animal Kingdom was 2 ¼ lengths ahead of Nehro, who repeated his runner-up finishes in the Louisiana Derby and Arkansas Derby. Mucho Macho Man, who was all over the track through the stretch, finished third and the game pacesetter Shackleford hung on for fourth. The favored Dialed In never was a factor and plodded home seventh for trainer Nick Zito.

After Animal Kingdom had become the first horse to win the Derby off only four career starts since Exterminator in 1918, the first to win without any prior starts on the dirt, and the first to win off a six-week layoff since Needles in 1956, Velasquez graciously acknowledged Albarado.

“It’s words that you can’t describe,” Velazquez told ex-jockey Donna Barton Brothers of NBC. “But I do really feel really bad for Robby. I hope he’s winning the Derby with me here. I know he got hurt so this is for both of us, buddy. I know you’re not on it, but I know you’re with me.”

Unfortunately, Albarado didn’t see it that way. He refused to let TV cameramen photograph him as he returned to the jocks room after the 12th race, the one following the Derby. “It was unfortunate I got taken off the Derby winner,” Albarado said. “Barry Irwin decided he didn’t think I was fit to ride. I’m not happy, but I congratulate Mr. Irwin and Mr. Motion.

It has not been what you would call a good spring for Albarado.

Late on the evening of March 31, a discussion between the jockey and his wife, Kimber, became heated. When police arrived at the couple’s home, they noticed red marks on Kimber’s throat. Although she refused treatment from EMS, police arrested Albarado and charged him with breaking his wife’s phone and trying to strangle her. A few weeks later, she dropped domestic violence charges, but a judge ordered a restraining order against Albarado to remain in effect.

So now Albarado must rebuild his image as a husband and father at the same time he’s dealing with the most devastating disappointment of his career. It’s a big order that, in the long run, may be a more compelling story than Animal Kingdom’s delightful romp on racing’s biggest and brightest stage.

The morning after the Derby, Barry Irwin reported that he already had been contacted about doing a Disney World commercial if Animal Kingdom is fortunate enough to win the Preakness. That’s another lucrative reason that it’s fortunate that Velasquez, not Albarado, is in Animal Kingdom’s saddle.

It’s difficult to imagine a man recently accused of domestic violence smiling into the camera and saying that he was going to celebrate the Preakness by going to Disney World.