Two Graded Stakes Wins Earn Alvarado Jockey of The Week
Junior Alvarado’s two dramatic graded stakes wins in the Canadian Turf and Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on Fountain of Youth Day earned the native of Venezuela Jockey of the Week by a vote of racing experts for the week of February 24 through March 2.
The weekly honor recognizes jockeys for significant riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys’ Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
Alvarado’s very productive afternoon started with an allowance win in race three for trainer Carlos David.
Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey gave a leg up to Alvarado in race nine, the Gr. III Canadian Turf Stakes aboard Fort Washington providing fans with a heart-stopping finish in the mile and one-sixteenth turf test for four-year-olds and up.
Breaking from post position two in the scratched-down field of seven, Fort Washington trailed the field into the clubhouse turn. Alvarado kept the six-year-old along the inside, saving ground before moving out to the middle of the course while running on his wrong lead. Four runners hit the wire together with Fort Washington prevailing by a short nose in 1:39.31 over Major Dude, with race favorite Silent Heart in third and Irish Acres a neck back in fourth.
“I had a great trip,” said Alvarado to Gulfstream Park publicity. “I was probably a little farther back than I wanted to be. Just saved a little ground on the first and second turns and when I turned for home he was there for me. I knew it was tight, but I thought I had it in the end.”
Alvarado, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott’s go-to rider, was aboard Sovereignty in the day’s feature race, the Gr. II Fountain of Youth, worth 50 points to the winner on the road to the Kentucky Derby (GI).
Last of six in the scratched-down field, Sovereignty was angled out to the middle of the track on the second turn and made a dramatic last-to-first move to catch River Thames and Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez for the neck victory in 1:43.12 for a mile and one-sixteenth.
“I was just trying to give him a good race,” Alvarado said. “We’ve been running second and third and I wanted to make sure he could finish.” It was Alvarado’s second Fountain of Youth win (Mohaymen 2016).
Alvarado, 39, rides primarily between New York and Gulfstream Park which has been his winter base since 2021. He was the regular rider of fan favorite, two-time Breeders’ Cup winner and 2023 Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish. Alvarado was the 2024 winner of the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Award.
Other contenders for Jockey of the Week included Manny Franco who posted the most wins for the week with 13 and a stakes race, Jose Ortiz who won the Gr. I Santa Anita Handicap, Irad Ortiz, Jr. with two graded stakes wins at Gulfstream and Umberto Rispoli with two graded stakes wins at Santa Anita.
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