Sovereignty outlasted the field in the 151th running of the Kentucky Derby, edging out favorite Journalism down the home stretch.
Sovereignty's win is historic for many people involved, including the horse's jockey, Junior Alvarado. The veteran jockey has been in the horse-racing industry for almost two decades now, but this marked by far the biggest win of his career.
Alvarez's life will never be the same moving forward, as the jockey finally reached the mountaintop of the sport on Saturday. Now, Alvarez will turn his attention to the rest of Triple Crown season as he looks to make even more history.
Here's what you need to know about Alvarez and his career up until this point.
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Who is Junior Alvarado?
Junior Alvarado is a 39-year-old jockey from Venezuela who has horse racing in his family's blood. His father, Rafael Alvarado, was a famous jockey in Venezuela who never made the jump to America. Apparently, Rafael Alvarado wanted to name his so Rafael Alvarado Jr., be he filed the paperwork for Junior Rafael Alvarado instead.
Alvarado first started competing in America at the age of 21 in 2007, and he has started over 14,000 races since. In those contests, Alvarado now has 2,237 wins, 2,023 seconds, and 1,950 thirds, earning over $147 million in his career.
However, despite that success, Alvarado hadn't won the Kentucky Derby until Saturday's race, which also marked his first-ever Triple Crown race victory. Previously, his best finish at the Kentucky Derby was in 2016, when he rode Mohaymen to a fourth-place finish, and he also finished in fourth place at the 2012 Preakness Stakes with Zetterholm.
Alvarez is the fourth Venezuelan jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, but three of those came within the past four years. The 38-year-old has a wife and three kids, and is mainly based out of New York.
Junior Alvarado injury
Earlier this year, Alvarado fractured his shoulder blade, which force him to temporarily step aside from riding Sovereignty. However, once Alvarado was healed, he returned to train with Sovereignty in preparation for the Kentucky Derby.
"I was just like devastated," Alvarado said. "But, you know, I got a call from Mr. Mott, like the day after I left the hospital, and he said to me, 'Listen, when you get back, you'll get to ride all your horses back. You get to ride Sovereignty back."
On Thursday, just days before the Kentucky Derby, Alvarado was riding Caramel Chip but fell off the horse while racing in the ninth race at Churchill Downs. As a result, Caramel Chip was disqualified from the race, bit Alvarado didn't suffer an injury.
Who owns Sovereignty?
Sovereignty is owned by Godolphin, the stable founded by UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Additionally, Sovereignty was trained by Bill Mott, who now has two Kentucky Derby wins on his resume.
🇺🇸🌹🏆 Sovereignty gives #TeamGodolphin a first win in the G1 @KentuckyDerby @ChurchillDowns for trainer Bill Mott and jockey @JuniorandKellyA! 🏇💙@emirates https://t.co/448KNX2pRc
— Godolphin (@godolphin) May 3, 2025
Sovereignty's odds to win 2025 Kentucky Derby
Once the Kentucky Derby begun, Sovereignty had 7-1 odds to win the race, behind just Journalism and Sandman in the field.