Alvarado discusses Sovereignty in Travers 2025 & beyond

Sovereignty brought jockey Júnior Alvarado his first-ever win in the Kentucky Derby and then again in the Belmont Stakes. At Saratoga on Saturday, the best 3-year-old Thoroughbred in the country could make Alvarado a first-time winner in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes.

“It’s been a dream year,” Alvarado said. “Those are the kind of years you imagine winning those kind of races. It’s really hard to accomplish, but it’s been an amazing ride this year. We still have almost half of the year to go, and I’m just excited to keep looking forward.”

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Before waving a calendar to say gotcha, Alvarado did miss 24 days early this spring when a spill at Gulfstream Park left him with a broken shoulder blade. As good as this year has been for him, it was shortened by nearly a month. This really is early in Alvarado’s second half.

It also is his 21st year riding professionally and his 19th since he moved north from his native Venezuela. Alvarado is 39, so it figures he is right in the middle of his career. It is not too soon for him to have a Mount Rushmore of horses he has ridden.

Sovereignty is obvious. Cody’s Wish was a five-time Grade 1 winner who was the 2023 horse of the year. Señor Buscador brought him the riches last year from winning the $20 million Saudi Derby (G1). The fourth face could be Just F Y I, Art Collector, Olympiad or any of his 30 Grade 1 winners. Alvarado made his choice by turning the clock back to his top-level breakthrough in 2010 for an owner who ran a fondly remembered racetrack.

“I have to say Éclair de Lune,” Alvarado said on Horse Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod. “She was my first Grade 1 filly. That first one was for Mr. (Dick) Duchossois at Arlington. We won the Beverly D. He named that race after his wife. I always will remember her, so she’s up there, too.”

Alvarado said that as he drove north on I-87, approaching the famed Kosciusko Bridge on the way back to Saratoga. Reflecting on the past, he was returning to the present and the expectations that go along with his ride on Sovereignty. The Godolphin homebred colt sired by Into Mischief and trained by Bill Mott is virtually certain to be an odds-on favorite against only four other starters in the Travers.

“The no. 1 horse Magnitude is a horse that looks like he has some speed,” he said. “Maybe the no. 2 Bracket Buster has shown some speed before. I know Luis Sáez is an aggressive jockey out of the gate, so we’ll see what he’s going to do with (trainer) Chad Brown adding blinkers to his horse (Strategic Focus). I don’t know if he’s fast enough to be up there. I think we have a great post (4), so we’re going to come out of there forward, hopefully.”

McAfee, the long shot in post 5, might have a similar strategy even if he does not possess the wherewithal to keep up with Sovereignty. In both the Belmont and last month’s Jim Dandy (G2), Alvarado had his five-time graded-stakes winner within two lengths of the lead throughout. That is very different from the closer who made up 13 lengths to win the Derby.

“If he came out with the same speed he has shown in the last couple races, we’re going to put a little pressure early just to make sure they move along pretty quick the first part,” Alvarado said. “I’m going to let him roll freely at least coming into the first turn. That way he won’t want to use his speed or have to use a little, extra more to get there. We don’t want to be stuck behind.”

If Alvarado and Mott plot a winning trip for the fourth time in a row, Sovereignty will become an ever firmer favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. International bookmakers already have him at 2-1 odds with last year’s winner Sierra Leone next at 5-1.

Not one to rest on take-’em-one-at-a-time answers, Alvarado said he is paying attention to the older horses he is likely to face in the $7 million Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

“I’ve got to make sure (to watch) in case one of the older horses wins very impressively,” Alvarado said. “Right now Sierra Leone won last time in the Whitney (G1). ... We’re going to see the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), and we’re going to see what’s happening in the Pacific Classic (G1). As of right now I feel pretty strong with what I have with Sovereignty. As the 3-year-old he’s been the tough one this year. I haven’t seen any older horse that will really scare me as of right now.”

Which brings Alvarado back to the rivalry Sovereignty has enjoyed against Preakness and Haskell (G1) winner Journalism, who appears likely to go next Saturday against older horses in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

“I do respect Journalism,” Alvarado said. “He’s a very good horse who has finished twice behind me. Every time that I have to encounter him, I will be paying attention. ... To be honest, anyone actually could end up being put in a race, so I can’t really just pay attention to one horse. I have to ride my horse, and I got to make sure no one else does anything that I wasn’t expecting. I have to be aware of everyone in the race.”

Alvarado does not have to be aware of Journalism this weekend just as team Journalism did not have to worry about Sovereignty in the Preakness. When Godolphin and Mott decided not to send Sovereignty in pursuit of the Triple Crown, that meant Alvarado did not have a chance put that rare achievement on his résumé.

“I think the only time this pops up in my mind and when I think about it is when people ask me about it,” Alvarado said to the interviewer who asked him about it. “Personally, we were so focused on winning the Derby this year. I don’t think we had any other vision ahead of that. ... When we won the Derby, we felt like we accomplished what we were looking for this year. I think everything after that is a plus that fortunately we are trying to win.”

Alvarado admitted his mind did wander to what would have happened if Sovereignty lined up against Journalism on May 17 at Pimlico.

“I think he could have won the Preakness, absolutely,” he said. “But it doesn’t bother me, to be honest.”

Alvarado also has a stakes assignment Saturday aboard Scotland, who is 12-1 on the morning-line in the seven-furlong Forego (G1) for older horses. Zeitlos, his mount in the seven-furlong Ballerina (G1) for fillies and mares, was scratched Saturday morning.

The Travers will be the 13th of 14 races Saturday with a post time of 6:14 p.m. EDT.