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Venezuelan jockey Junior Alvarado won his first career Kentucky Derby on the back of Sovereignty on May 3 at Churchill Downs. But now Alvarado is paying a major penalty after it was found that he violated the rules of the sport in order to do so.
Alvarado, 38, was fined $62,000 (20 percent of his $310,000 share of the winnings) and suspended for two Kentucky racing days after it was determined that he went to the whip eight times down the stretch of the Kentucky Derby, two more times than allowed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. The race results remain the same, although Sovereignty’s team has already announced that the horse will not race in the Preakness Stakes.
Junior Alvarado Says He Wasn’t Counting En Route To Kentucky Derby Win
It also marks the second time in 180 days that Alvarado was deemed to have violated the rules. Alvarado issued a statement on the penalty, claiming that he did not realize he violated the rule until he was able to watch the race back.
“I couldn’t keep track of that,” the Venezuelan rider told horse racing website, Bloodhorse. “It’s such a big race, there’s so much that you’ve got on your mind.
“I wasn’t galloping by 10 (lengths). When the extra whip happened, I was right next to the favorite and I needed to do what I needed to do at the time,” Alvarado said. “After (watching a replay), I saw I went over, but I had no time to think about that (in the moment). I just wanted to win the biggest race in America.”
Sovereignty narrowly beat out pre-race favorite Journalism to win the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby.
This raises the question of what the point of the rule is. If jockeys can violate it, keep the win, and only pay a fine, why wouldn’t they do so? Sure, $62,000 is a lot of money. But there’s every chance Alvarado is reimbursed by the horse’s owner. And the value of winning the Kentucky Derby far outweighs the fine.
Alvarado doesn’t seem overly apologetic about it, either. And why would he be? It’s now up to the governing body to determine if it wants the rule to have teeth or not. Because if not, this will continue to happen in the sport’s biggest races.