With Junior Alvarado in the saddle, Sovereignty "showed his stuff" winning the 151st Kentucky Derby (G1) and giving his jockey his first win in a Triple Crown race. A panel of racing experts unanimously voted Alvarado Jockey of the Week April 28-May 4.
The weekly honor recognizes jockeys for significant riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization that represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
"When we hit the five-eighths pole he said he was ready," said jockey Junior Alvarado to Churchill Downs publicity. "I didn't want to get too excited. When we turned for home, I got him in the clear and showed his stuff."
Alvarado had been Sovereignty's regular rider for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott through the colt's first four starts including a win in the Street Sense (G3) at Churchill Downs last October and in the Fountain of Youth (G2) to start his three-year-old campaign. But a week before the Florida Derby (G1), Alvarado suffered a hairline fracture to his right shoulder blade in an on-track incident at Gulfstream Park.
"(Mott) called me the day I got out of the hospital, and he said to me, 'Do what you need to do. If the horse wins, runs second or third, you're gonna ride him back," relayed Alvarado. "That gave me a lot of peace of mind to recover the right way."
True to his word, Mott gave Alvarado, 38, the call for the Kentucky Derby. Alvarado was supremely confident he would be on the best horse.
Breaking from post position sixteen at odds of 7-1, Sovereignty bobbled slightly, settling near the rear of the field. Midway on the far turn, race favorite Journalism with Umberto Rispoli, got into fourth position while taking aim on the tiring leaders. Alvarado was following and angled just outside turning into the stretch. Journalism took command in early stretch but Sovereignty took the lead at the sixteenth pole and pulled away to win by 1-1/2-lengths in 2:02.31 for the classic distance of a mile and one-quarter.
"It means the world to me," said Alvarado. "We've been a team for a while; it's more than even a dream come true to get it done with him (Mott)."
"My regular rider, Junior Alvarado, I think it made that special," said Mott after the race. "I think it makes it special for both of us."
Other contenders for Jockey of the Week included Jose Ortiz with a Gr. II win and the most wins for the week with nine, reigning Eclipse Award winner Flavien Prat with three graded stakes wins including the La Troienne (G1) and the American Turf (G1), Luis Saez who won the Kentucky Oaks (G1), and Hall of Famer John Velazquez with four stakes wins including three graded.
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