Yes, Bill Mott was loyal to Junior Alvarado, letting him ride Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Kentucky Derby after he missed the main prep in the GI Florida Derby. Alvarado fractured his shoulder blade in a Mar. 23 spill at Gulfstream and was sent to the sidelines. Manny Franco filled in for the Florida Derby and rode a fine race, guiding Sovereignty to a second-place finish.
That opened the door to a number of possibilities. Mott could have kept Franco on the horse or he easily could have enticed one of the sport's two best riders, Flavien Prat and Irad Ortiz Jr., to take the mount. Neither one had a top Derby mount.
But Mott, when it became clear that Alvarado would heal up in time to make the Derby, gave the mount back to Alvarado. It was a magnanimous gesture, but it was also the smartest move he could have made. He knew that riding Alvarado gave him the best chance of winning.
“I would like to say, it was great having Junior back on him. He didn't ride him the last day because of an injury,” said Michael Banahan, the director of USA bloodstock for the owner, the powerful Godolphin Stable. “The confidence that Junior has in a horse, especially a horse coming from off the pace like that and knowing him so well, I think helped him get there today as well because he knows that he's going to be there for him. Manny Franco gave him a great ride down in Florida. But he probably wouldn't have had the confidence in him that Junior had because he knows him so well. So great, great ride by Junior again today.”
Alvarado left his native Venezuela, where he was a graduate of that country's jockey academy, in 2007 to see if he could make it in the U.S. He was the leading rider at Arlington Park in 2009 and 2010 and won his first Grade I in the U.S. in Arlington Park's GI Beverly D. S. in 2010 aboard Eclair de Lune (Ger) (Marchand de Sable). From there he set out for New York to challenge himself against some of the best jockeys in the world.
In 2011, his first full year in New York, he won 162 races. In 2012, he won 183 races. Yet, he seemed to always be in the shadow of the superstars in the New York colony. He was not someone you thought of when it came to riding in the Kentucky Derby. He did not get his first Derby mount until 2006 and he was 0-for-5 coming into Saturday's race.
Coady Media
Nobody pays closer attention to details than the Hall of Fame Mott. With his stable, he could have used any jockey he wanted, but he saw something in Alvarado that others apparently did not. He had his first mounts for Mott in 2011 and went 7-for-20, winning at a 35% rate. He liked how Alvarado rode but he also liked the fact that he could turn him into a de facto house jockey. He didn't need to hunt for jockey because he knew Alvarado would always be available for him. It was part of bond that just kept growing stronger.
“I wasn't probably completely aware at the time of who I was riding for,” Alvarado told the Daily Racing Form. “Maybe a few months you start riding for him and people are saying, 'Oh, you're riding for Mott, you're riding for Mott!'”
Mott would still use other riders but his go-to guy became Junior Alvarado. He has ridden 416 winners for Mott from 2339 mounts for a 17.8% clip. They have combined for 46 graded stakes wins, including 16 Grade I's. There was something about this combination of jockey and trainer that clicked.
Before the Derby, Alvarado was known as the regular rider of Cody's Wish (Curlin), the 2023 Horse of the Year. Alvarado rode him in 10 of his 16 races, including his last nine starts. His most memorable wins on Cody's Wish came in back-to-back running of the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and the 2023 GI Metropolitan H.
Alvarado might have thought it would never get better than that. Especially after he had his shoulder problems. But it did. He won the Derby.
“I was completely heartbroken,” he said of the shoulder injury. “I thought that was it. I knew that was this horse. All along I knew it was the right horse for me to win the Derby. And I always say, well, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. But at the same time, like I said, I don't know if I'm going to be able to get another horse like this if I don't get back on time. But once again, I got the call the next day when I get out of the hospital. Mr. Mott said, 'Listen, you do what you need to do, and you'll get to ride on the horse back.' I think that gave me a peace of mind and to do what I needed to do the right way to recover properly, and I just did that.
“You don't get that in the business often, because this is the nature of the business. Someone else gets to ride the horse. You ride him good, and you get to keep him. I did a good job. How are you getting them off? You know what I mean? So I understand that, too. But, once again, like I say, just having the peace of mind and being able to do what I needed to do, it just is something that I will appreciate from Mr. Mott.”
His relationship with Mott was among the first things that popped into his head after crossing the Derby finish line.
“If I could win with anyone, it would be Mr. Mott,” Alvarado said, while being interviewed by NBC's Donna Brothers on horseback. “We've been a team for a while. It's like a dream come true to have it come with him and the Godolphin team… He told me the day I got out of the hospital, 'Do what you need to do. He will be waiting. All the other horses you're riding, you'll get back on.'”
Mott didn't need to be reminded how well his association with Alvarado had worked for both of them.
“My regular rider, Junior Alvarado, I think it made that special,” he said following the race. “I think it makes it special for both of us.”
Alvarado won't win any riding titles this year and it's unlikely that he will be an Eclipse Award candidate. But he is a very good jockey who has forged a relationship with one of the best trainers in the sport. For Mott, for Alvarado, for Godolphin and for Sovereignty, it could not be working out better.
Will Sovereignty Run in the Preakness?
Predictably, Mott was not ready Sunday morning to commit to the GI Preakness S. Mott is as methodical as any trainer in the sport and can't be rushed into making decisions.
“We've got to consider all options with him,” he said Sunday. “We certainly respect the Triple Crown and what it means, but we're not dead set on it. We'll have to let the horse tell us how he's doing in the next little while and then we'll go from there.”
I'd be surprised if he were to run in the Preakness. While Mott understands the history of the race and the importance of the Triple Crown, he will put the horse first and it is unlikely that he will decide that the best thing for Sovereignty is to run back in two weeks in the Preakness.”
So let's start the debate all over again. The Triple Crown needs fixing and the obvious solution is to put more space between the races, especially the Preakness and the Derby. Tradition is great, but not so great when you have a watered-down Triple Crown.
Odd Odds
The Derby has become a race where, more times than not, you can't make any sense out of the wagering. It seems that a lot of bettors, in particular people who pay attention to the sport once a year, are trying to find the next Mine That Bird (Birdstone) or Rich Strike (Keen Ice). How else can you explain why Render Judgment (Blame), who was a non-threatening fifth in the GI Blue Grass went off at 20-1, while Blue Grass winner Burnham Square was 19-1?
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