![\"Junior](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/6aebe8_c55bfd3ecfed48dc8798bf41823f28fc~mv2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAfter 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<\/p>\n
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Junior Alvarado and Sovereignty Aim for Another Happy Snapshot \/ ADAM COGLIANESE \/ NYRA<\/p>\n
SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (Special for Turf Diario).- At Times, 2025 Seemed Destined to Be an Unforgettable Year for Junior Alvarado\u2026 but for All the Wrong Reasons<\/p>\n
Everything seemed to collapse on the afternoon of\u00a0March 23\u00a0at\u00a0Gulfstream Park, when the Venezuelan jockey hit the ground hard in a nasty fall\u2014less than a week before he was set to ride\u00a0Sovereignty (Into Mischief)\u00a0in the\u00a0Florida Derby (G1), the final prep for the\u00a0Kentucky Derby (G1).<\/p>\n
\u201cI could see the horse\u2019s legs going every which way, so I tried to stop him, but he was headed straight for the rail,\u201d he recalls. \u201cSuddenly I felt another horse go over me right after I hit the ground. I felt pain all over my body. I couldn\u2019t move my right arm. Zero, nothing, it was paralyzed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He called\u00a0Rick 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. \u201cIt hurt like hell, but each day I felt a little better,\u201d he remembers.<\/p>\n
Just\u00a024 days after the accident, he was back in the saddles: on\u00a0April 16, riding at\u00a0Keeneland. The dream was still alive. The confidence instilled by\u00a0Bill Mott\u00a0was key: \u201cHe called me the day after the fall and said, \u2018Look, you\u2019re 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.\u2019 That gave me the peace of mind I needed. From that moment, I had a single mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
That mission was accomplished on\u00a0May 3\u00a0at\u00a0Churchill Downs: Sovereignty and Alvarado powered down the stretch to overtake\u00a0Journalism (Curlin)\u00a0and win an emotional\u00a0Kentucky Derby (G1). It was Junior\u2019s first victory in the world\u2019s most famous race, in his 19th year in the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I had the horse for the Derby,\u201d he admits. \u201cI\u2019ve never been so confident before a race. I didn\u2019t feel pressure. We weren\u2019t the favorites\u2014Journalism went off at 3-1, Sovereignty at 7-1\u2014but the race unfolded exactly as we imagined. I think it was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Junior\u2019s 2025 was already historic, but the story didn\u2019t end there. After skipping the\u00a0Preakness Stakes (G1)\u2014passing on a Triple Crown attempt\u2014Sovereignty returned in peak form to shine in the\u00a0Belmont Stakes (G1)\u00a0and, weeks later, dominate the\u00a0Jim Dandy Stakes (G2)\u00a0on the way to the summer\u2019s ultimate target: the\u00a0Travers Stakes (G1).<\/p>\n
\u201cI know everyone\u2019s dream is to win the Triple Crown, and it\u2019s mine too,\u201d Alvarado admits. \u201cBut winning the Derby was so special that I didn\u2019t mind skipping the Preakness. We had already achieved something we\u2019d worked toward for so many years, especially for Bill and for Godolphin. Winning the Derby made me feel complete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rafael Alvarado\u2019s son still remembers his father\u2019s 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\u00a02,260 wins,\u00a017 G1 victories since 2022, and iconic triumphs such as the\u00a0Saudi Cup, the Breeders\u2019 Cup, and now the\u00a0Kentucky Derby, his name is firmly etched among the sport\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n
But Junior still dreams: \u201cThis is the most important race of the summer, the Travers,\u201d he says. \u201cAfter 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\u2019s the race everyone wants to win here\u2026 and I think we have the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n
On\u00a0Saturday at Saratoga, the public will be on his side. And many, ticket in hand, will be too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After That Fall at Gulfstream Park That Seemed to Jeopardize Everything, the Venezuelan Jockey Rebounded Quickly to Enjoy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-85475","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\/85475","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=85475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}