Venezuelan Jockey Junior Alvarado Secures First Career Win
Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby, finishing the race in 2 minutes and 2 seconds on a rain-soaked track in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday.
Out of the 19 horses that competed in the 151st edition of the iconic race, the colt, Journalism, was favored to win, but took second place. The last favored horse to win was Justify in 2018.
The victory marks Venezuelan jockey Junior Alvarado's first career win in the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty's trainer, Bill Mott, previously won in 2019 due to a disqualification.
A day of races led to the Kentucky Derby, a 1 1/4 mile race lasting about two minutes. Many 3-year-old horses faced new experiences on the track with a large crowd watching.
"That's not necessarily a natural thing for a horse to deal with," said Amy Lawyer, chair of equine administration at the University of Louisville's business school. "So, it's a lot of new experiences that the horse is going through, and it makes it really exciting and really unpredictable."
Coined "the most exciting 2 minutes in sports," the crowd of 140,000 people watched as the horses ran at 35 miles per hour for a shot at $5 million.
Rain at Churchill Downs added another variable to the race, with some horses reacting differently to the wet track. Trainer Bob Baffert returned this year with Citizen Bull after a ban from the 2021 Derby.
If Citizen Bull had won, Baffert, with six Kentucky Derby wins, would have achieved a historic feat in horse racing. Churchill Downs has implemented changes since controversies in recent years to ensure horse safety.
