On May 3, during the 151st Kentucky Derby, on a muddy, squelching track, Sovereignty took home the win and the garland of bright red roses. Trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, this marked the 7th consecutive year that the betting favorite failed to win the Derby. Sovereignty’s ride to victory was an impressive feat coming from the 16th post position, the 5th time the winning horse has started from there. He finished the 1 1/4-mile race in 2:02.31, beating the 3-1 favorite, Journalism, who ended up in second place. Baeza, a last-minute entrant, came in third, while Final Gambit took fourth place.

This win was Alvarado’s first Derby victory and Mott’s second, with his first happening back in 2019. There was a lot of excitement and hype surrounding Journalism, but the colt fell short of expectations. Naturally, his jockey, Umberto Rispoli, had some thoughts on how the race shook out, especially with the sloppy track conditions.

In a chat after the race with Scott Hazelton on FanDuel Racing’s YouTube channel, Rispoli said, “They won by a couple of lengths. On the mud today, he was the best horse. Definitely, just to swallow the pill better, I would fight him on the better ground. Look, I think there’s a lot of question marks when those things happen like that, Scott. Because the track is like that. He’s never been on this track. So I would say, let’s say then I lost the battle, not the war. So it is what it is.”

While he didn’t outright blame tough track conditions on the outcome of his race, Rispoli didn’t hesitate to bring up the fact either. Though Sovereignty was the undisputed winner on the day, Rispoli’s comment about the future hints at the start of an intriguing rivalry that could continue at the G1 Breeders Cup Classic on May 11, though neither horse’s participation has been confirmed so far. But with two legs of the American Triple Crown—the Preakness Stakes on May 17, and then the Belmont Stakes on June 7—still to come, there’s still a war to win, to echo Rispoli’s words.

For sure, if you check out the colt’s track record, it’s looking pretty good. Journalism never lost a race since that first win at Del Mar on November 17, 2024. So, with this second-place finish at the Kentucky Derby, it’s now the second time in his career that he didn’t cross the finish line in first place. But you know, there’s a really interesting story behind Sovereignty’s win at Churchill Downs.

The story of the jockey who won against Journalism

Not many people thought Journalism would lose the Kentucky Derby. But you know, horse racing can be pretty unpredictable, and all the buzz around it definitely added to the excitement this year. The win for sovereignty was more than just a G1 event victory; it really showed a sense of pure redemption. Junior Alvarado, the jockey for the colt, went through a really tough situation not too long ago.

“I was just like devastated. 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,’” Alvarado shared about his injury. The jockey hit a big bump in the road when he ended up fracturing his shoulder blade. This injury also sidelined him during Sovereignty’s run in the Florida Derby. Alvarado felt really down about the timing and the impact of his injury on his career.

But then, right after he left the hospital, he received a supportive call from trainer Bill Mott. He remembered Mott saying, “‘You get to ride Sovereignty back. So, you do what you need to do.’ And that gave me peace of mind, and I think that actually helped me to do what I needed to do just the right way, so I can heal up quick. And I just did that.” Mott was there for his jockey, offering the mental support he needed during those tough times. So, Alvarado bounced back and made history on May 3 with his horse, Sovereignty.