Winning Derby jockey bounced back after two recent falls. Here’s what happened.
Jockey Junior Alvarado has had a rough go of it lately, but all that changed Saturday, when he rode Sovereignty to victory in the 151st Kentucky Derby.
Alvarado fractured his shoulder blade March 23 at Gulfstream Park, when his mount had a heart attack and fell, the Daily Racing Form reported.
Though he had worked horses after that, his first time back in the saddle for a race was April 16 at Keeneland, DRF.com reported.
And on Thursday, Alvarado was riding Caramel Chip for the ninth race of the day when the horse stumbled, and Alvarado fell off, the Courier Journal reported.
Caramel Chip finished second but was disqualified, and neither he nor Alvarado was injured, the newspaper said.
Alvarado’s shoulder injury, which left him sidelined for several weeks, came up during a brief interview with NBC reporter and former jockey Donna Brothers immediately after his big win Saturday.
Alvarado told Brothers that winning the Derby is “more than even a dream come true.”
Before hurting his shoulder, Alvarado had ridden Sovereignty for each of his four starts, BloodHorse previously reported.
In Alvarado’s absence, Manny Franco rode Sovereignty in the Florida Derby, finishing second.
Alvarado told FanDuel Racing in an interview that his shoulder injury “was something minimal,” but it had affected his arm mobility, so he had had to take a few weeks off.
“I’m feeling great,” he said in the April 26 interview. “We’re different bred. We just heal very quick.”
And he said he knew from the first time Sovereignty ran, “he had talent.”
