Roberto Pineda (July 29, 1952 – May 3, 1978) was a Mexican jockey who competed in

Thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

in the United States. Racing at

Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, on May 3, 1978, Roberto Pineda was in an accident that took his life. Jockey Rudy Turcotte's horse went down, setting off a chain reaction collision involving Pineda and jockey James Thornton. All three jockeys were seriously injured, with Pineda dying later that day. For the Pineda family, this was the second such racing tragedy. Roberto's older brother, Alvaro, a top jockey in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

who had won the 1974

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional condu ...

, was also killed in a freak starting gate accident at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

in 1975. By coincidence, and underscoring the dangers to jockeys, 1973

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

-winning jockey

Ron Turcotte Ronald Joseph Morel "Ronnie" Turcotte, (born July 22, 1941) is a retired Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey best known as the rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973. Career Turcotte began his career in Toronto as a ...

, brother of Rudy, was in a separate accident that same month, in which he suffered a

broken neck A cervical fracture, commonly called a broken neck, is a fracture of any of the seven cervical vertebrae in the neck. Examples of common causes in humans are traffic collisions and diving into shallow water. Abnormal movement of neck bones or pie ...

and became a paraplegic. Pineda was survived by his wife Maxine and their two sons, Roberto Jr and Alvaro Cipriano. Roberto and his brother Álvaro are buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale Los Angeles County California in plot: Garden of Honor, Lot 6820–1.

References

May 03, 1978 CBS News report on the accident that took the life of Roberto Pineda
1952 births 1978 deaths American jockeys American sportspeople of Mexican descent Jockeys who died while racing Mexican jockeys Sports deaths in Maryland Mexican emigrants to the United States {{Horseracing-bio-stub