Junior Alvarado and a Remarkable Season Aiming to Keep Adding Major Wins

After That Fall at Gulfstream Park That Seemed to Jeopardize Everything, the Venezuelan Jockey Rebounded Quickly to Enjoy a Strong Run; This Saturday, He Targets the Travers with Sovereignty

Junior Alvarado and Sovereignty Aim for Another Happy Snapshot / ADAM COGLIANESE / NYRA

SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (Special for Turf Diario).- At Times, 2025 Seemed Destined to Be an Unforgettable Year for Junior Alvarado… but for All the Wrong Reasons

Everything seemed to collapse on the afternoon of March 23 at Gulfstream Park, when the Venezuelan jockey hit the ground hard in a nasty fall—less than a week before he was set to ride Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the Florida Derby (G1), the final prep for the Kentucky Derby (G1).

“I could see the horse’s legs going every which way, so I tried to stop him, but he was headed straight for the rail,” he recalls. “Suddenly I felt another horse go over me right after I hit the ground. I felt pain all over my body. I couldn’t move my right arm. Zero, nothing, it was paralyzed.”

The hospital diagnosis was grim: a broken scapula and at least six weeks of recovery, according to doctors. Goodbye Florida Derby. Goodbye Kentucky Derby. Goodbye to the dream he had waited for so long. But Junior was not ready to give up.

He called Rick Alfred, a sports medicine specialist and a regular at Saratoga, who happened to be in Florida. The advice was as surprising as it was painful: no sling, move the arm as much as possible. And Alvarado did. “It hurt like hell, but each day I felt a little better,” he remembers.

Just 24 days after the accident, he was back in the saddles: on April 16, riding at Keeneland. The dream was still alive. The confidence instilled by Bill Mott was key: “He called me the day after the fall and said, ‘Look, you’re going to have Sovereignty before the Derby, after the Derby, whenever you come back, that horse and any other you rode will be waiting. Do what you need.’ That gave me the peace of mind I needed. From that moment, I had a single mission.”

That mission was accomplished on May 3 at Churchill Downs: Sovereignty and Alvarado powered down the stretch to overtake Journalism (Curlin) and win an emotional Kentucky Derby (G1). It was Junior’s first victory in the world’s most famous race, in his 19th year in the United States.

“I knew I had the horse for the Derby,” he admits. “I’ve never been so confident before a race. I didn’t feel pressure. We weren’t the favorites—Journalism went off at 3-1, Sovereignty at 7-1—but the race unfolded exactly as we imagined. I think it was meant to be.”

Junior’s 2025 was already historic, but the story didn’t end there. After skipping the Preakness Stakes (G1)—passing on a Triple Crown attempt—Sovereignty returned in peak form to shine in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and, weeks later, dominate the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) on the way to the summer’s ultimate target: the Travers Stakes (G1).

“I know everyone’s dream is to win the Triple Crown, and it’s mine too,” Alvarado admits. “But winning the Derby was so special that I didn’t mind skipping the Preakness. We had already achieved something we’d worked toward for so many years, especially for Bill and for Godolphin. Winning the Derby made me feel complete.”

Rafael Alvarado’s son still remembers his father’s words when he convinced him to leave Venezuela and try his luck in the United States. He arrived in 2007, earned his first G1 in 2010, and has built a career worthy of respect ever since. Today, with over 2,260 wins, 17 G1 victories since 2022, and iconic triumphs such as the Saudi Cup, the Breeders’ Cup, and now the Kentucky Derby, his name is firmly etched among the sport’s elite.

But Junior still dreams: “This is the most important race of the summer, the Travers,” he says. “After winning the Derby, we thought it would be nice to also win the Belmont, but since then our main goal has been the Travers. It’s the race everyone wants to win here… and I think we have the horse.”

On Saturday at Saratoga, the public will be on his side. And many, ticket in hand, will be too.

Paul Hollaran (NYRA)