LOUISVILLE, Ky. \u2014 Less than two months before the Kentucky Derby, jockey Junior Alvarado was praying to god to heal him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On March 23, Alvarado was riding the horse Term at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., when his thoroughbred suffered a heart attack, sending Alvarado off his saddle. He was clipped by another horse while on the ground tending to his own, resulting in a hairline fracture in his shoulder that would sideline him for three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alvarado was heartbroken. His dream was winning the Derby, and he felt had a legitimate shot this year with his horse Sovereignty. Alvarado wasn\u2019t sure if he would ever get an opportunity like this again if he didn\u2019t return in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have a lot of faith in God,\u201d Alvarado said Saturday about the mental challenge he faced. \u201cEvery day since I got the injury I kept telling God, \u2018Please heal me, please heal me. If it\u2019s meant to be, I know you\u2019re going to put me right back in action before the Derby.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alvarado\u2019s prayers were answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The jockey recovered in plenty of time for the 151st Run for the Roses \u2014 and he rode Sovereignty to victory on a muddy track Saturday at Churchill Downs. It was Alvarado\u2019s first career win in horse racing signature\u2019s event after five previous losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only was Alvarado\u2019s spot on Sovereignty in jeopardy after falling in March, he also ran the risk of being replaced by a different rider. But the day after Alvarado was released from the hospital, he received a call from Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott, who assured Alvarado the horse was his to ride once he recovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen Mr. Mott called me the day after I got out of the hospital, he gave me a big peace of mind,\u201d Alvarado said. \u201cYou don\u2019t get that in the business often. This is the nature of the business: Somebody else gets to ride the horse, he\u2019s riding good, and you get to keep him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut having the peace of mind and being able to do what I needed to do was something that I always will appreciate from Mr. Mott.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alvarado kept his calm even after a second fall on Thursday, two days before the Derby, when he tumbled off Caramel Chip during the ninth race of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Alvarado literally<\/em> had to get himself back on the horse, Sovereignty was having a much smoother run-up to the Derby, according to Mott, even after finishing second in its most recent race under jockey Manny Franco in late March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn\u2019t have any reservations about him,\u201d Mott said in reference to Sovereignty. \u201cYou got to go out and run the race, but the way the horse was doing, I really couldn\u2019t have asked for anything different in the last five weeks since his last race. Everything had gone smoothly. Ordinarily to win these kinds of races, you can\u2019t have any hiccups in your training schedule or the way the horse is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mott, who previously won the 2019 Kentucky Derby with horse Country House after a disqualification, said winning with his \u201cregular rider\u201d Alvarado made Saturday\u2019s result particularly special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alvarado\u2019s journey, of course, began long before his fracture in March or even his previous Derby appearances. It began in Venezuela, where his father was a jockey. He said growing up the only race he could watch on television was the one he just won at Churchill Downs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He first told himself it would simply be nice to race in the event. Later on he wanted to win it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Today we did that,” Alvarado said. “I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m going to be able actually to find the right words that can describe this feeling that I have right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n