{"id":181642,"date":"2025-10-06T12:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T12:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/181642\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T12:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T12:09:11","slug":"breeders-cup-win-with-sovereignty-would-cap-banner-year-for-junior-alvarado-and-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/181642\/","title":{"rendered":"Breeders\u2019 Cup Win with Sovereignty Would Cap Banner Year for Junior Alvarado and Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jockey Junior Alvarado<\/a> is riding high into the Breeders\u2019 Cup World Championships, knowing Sovereignty<\/a> can almost surely earn Horse of the Year honors by adding the $7 million Longines Classic<\/a> to previous successes in the Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes<\/a>, Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve<\/a>, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets<\/a>, Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun<\/a>, and DraftKings Travers Stakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alvarado\u2019s journey is made all the sweeter by memories of when life was not so sweet. He knows what it is to be broken physically. In 19 years since he arrived in the United States from his native Venezuela, he has required four shoulder surgeries, been sidelined for seven months by an ankle injury, broken his collarbone three times, fractured his back twice and suffered a severe concussion.<\/p>\n

He also knows what it is to be all but broken mentally. After each physical setback, he struggled to rebuild his business. Even when he was healthy and winning, he found himself losing mounts to jockeys with greater reputations even though he had done nothing wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they say, \u2018We\u2019re going for a stakes race now, we\u2019re going to get somebody else,\u2019 it\u2019s hard to take,\u201d Alvarado said. \u201cYou try to stay respectful and try not to say anything bad about the trainer who took you off or an owner who took you off a horse you just won with.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had received that news so many times he was in despair.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went through a lot mentally,\u201d said Alvarado\u2019s wife, Kelly. \u201cHe wanted to quit riding. He\u2019s like, \u2018This is not for me. I can\u2019t do this anymore.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He considered purchasing a farm in Ocala, Fla., and taking a very different career path. He had so many roiling emotions and confusing thoughts.<\/p>\n

As the 2021-2022 Gulfstream Park<\/a> Championship Meet wound down, he made a painful call to his wife. He told her he planned to remain in Florida for a time and would not be able to rejoin her and their three children in New York as planned.<\/p>\n

Kelly could not believe what she was hearing. \u201cOur life is in New York,\u201d she responded. \u201cI moved here from Chicago. We\u2019re raising our children in New York. What does that mean, you\u2019re staying in Florida?\u201d<\/p>\n

While Alvarado is devoted to his family, he explained that he would do everything possible to obtain mounts in Florida once the elite jockeys left. He said of New York, \u201cThere is no business there. There is nothing for me there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly describes that uncertain period in their lives as \u201cmentally exhausting.\u201d She contacted\u00a0Ramon Dominguez<\/a>, a retired Hall of Fame jockey, for advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the business. It\u2019s all going to work out,\u201d Dominguez told her. \u201cJust keep looking forward. Just make sure Junior keeps looking forward and don\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

One mount can change everything. Or at least it did for Alvarado. Agent Mike Sellitto called to say that Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott<\/a> had awarded him the mount on an improving colt named Cody\u2019s Wish<\/a> in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes at Belmont Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alvarado capitalized on the opportunity with a five-length victory. Three starts later, he notched his first Breeders\u2019 Cup victory aboard rallying Cody\u2019s Wish in the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile, a triumph that would be repeated on the way to Horse of the Year honors the following season.<\/p>\n

Alvarado continued to roll with an ever-so-patient ride aboard late-charging Senor Buscador in the $20 million Saudi Cup early in the 2024 season and, before long, the strong relationship he built with Mott was rewarded when a magnificent horse named Sovereignty came along.<\/p>\n

Alvarado, 39, was so sure of the Godolphin<\/a> homebred before the Kentucky Derby that he urged Kelly to arrange to bring their children \u2013 Adrian, 14; Adalyn, 10; and Axel, 6. His wife wasn\u2019t so sure, noting how expensive it would be.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my year,\u201d Alvarado told her. \u201cI\u2019m going to win the Derby.\u201d<\/p>\n

He guided Sovereignty with the utmost confidence, staying remarkably cool through the mile-and-a-quarter classic even though his mount was far back through the opening three-quarters of a mile, sitting 17th of 19.<\/p>\n

Alvarado bided his time until he could wait no longer. Sovereignty responded to his call to action in a big way, rapidly picking off horses ahead of him one by one until only Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism<\/a> remained. It was only a matter of time before he, too, yielded.<\/p>\n

Kelly and the children rushed to the winner\u2019s circle to celebrate the time of their lives. Alvarado has always ridden much more for his family than himself. That was never truer than that unforgettable afternoon at Churchill Downs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to give that experience to my kids,\u201d Alvarado said. \u201cWhen they grow up, they can always say, \u2018We were right here in the winner\u2019s circle. My dad won the Kentucky Derby.\u2019 I want them to have that forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another huge race looms. The world\u2019s finest horses will come together to test Sovereignty as perhaps never before in the Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar<\/a>. Kelly will be there. So will their children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jockey Junior Alvarado is riding high into the Breeders\u2019 Cup World Championships, knowing Sovereignty can almost surely earn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-181642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}