Junior Alvarado has filed an appeal of the fine and suspension he received for his ride on Sovereignty in the 2025 Kentucky ...

A hard fall in March left jockey Junior Alvarado with an injured shoulder, but the Venezuelan put it behind him with the ride of a lifetime in the Kentucky Derby.

After riding Sovereignty in each of his four career starts, Alvarado was forced to watch him race from the hospital. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be," Alvarado thought to himself.

"Number one, my regular rider, Junior Alvarado." To have had him pilot Sovereignty to victory, Mott felt, made it even sweeter. Another member of that team is ownership group Godolphin, LLC.

Jockey Junior Alvarado has filed an appeal of the fine and suspension levied for excessive crop usage during his victorious ride in the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs. The Horseracing ...

Jockey Junior Alvarado celebrates atop of Sovereignty #18 after winning the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturdya, May 3, 2025. (Alex Slitz / Getty Images ...

Less than two months before the Kentucky Derby, jockey Junior Alvarado was praying ... a legitimate shot this year with his horse Sovereignty. Alvarado wasn’t sure if he would ever get an ...