Winning his first Kentucky Derby four weeks ago and now having a chance to earn a second victory in thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown aboard Sovereignty in next Saturday's Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course top the list of "big things" Junior Alvarado sought when the Venezuelan jockey relocated to Long Island.
It's become home to the 38-year-old Alvarado, his wife Kelly and their three children, Adrian (12), Adalyn (8) and Axel (4). Hildebrandt's in Williston Park sponsors Alvarado and he wore the name of the ice cream shop on his right leg during his Derby win.
But living in Garden City has also become the intended gateway to better and more prestigious rides as well as a strong relationship with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who stables Sovereignty.
"I've been living here for quite a while, since 2012 when I made my move from Chicago," Alvarado told Newsday in a telephone interview. "I'm always looking for big things to happen. I was doing very well in Chicago. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, I was the leading jockey in Arlington. But when the big races were happening in Chicago, all those big jockeys from New York were coming in. Even though I was the leading jockey, I probably only had one or two mounts the big days of the card. I was always thinking I want to be one of them one day so I can get the big horses and travel everywhere."
The 157th running of the Belmont Stakes will mark its second straight year at Saratoga while Belmont Park continues to undergo a vast reconstruction with a timeline of re-opening for racing in September 2026. The projected six-horse field for the 11/4-mile race sets up as a showdown between Sovereignty and Journalism, which won the Triple Crown's second leg in the Preakness on May 17.
Mott and Sovereignty's connections opted to skip the short turnaround for the Preakness and point him toward the Belmont Stakes.
Alvarado called the decision, "probably the right thing."
"They like to give their horse the time to recover so it can perform 120%," Alvarado said. "I'm definitely excited for the Belmont. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the same horse I had at the Derby, which should be enough to be very tough to beat."
As for coming to Long Island, Alvarado temporarily based himself here for the winter in 2011. That became a permanent move the next year, though Alvarado continues to race across the U.S.
"My agent, Mike Sellitto, I connected with him and he told me [just the winter wasn't enough]," Alvarado said. "He told me I could be very competitive but I needed to stay. I needed to toughen up and that's what I did."
Now, he considers himself a Long Islander.
"Absolutely, yeah," Alvarado said. "That's my home. I made Long Island my home. We've been raising our kids on Long Island. We cheer for everything in New York."
Through Thursday, Alvarado ranked sixth among jockeys in North American race earnings as calculated by Equibase. He had earned $6.8 million with 48 wins, 50 places and 29 shows in 296 starts.
"I think he's a person that has worked really hard at their craft over a long period of time and now has that moment to point to that says, 'I made it,' " New York Racing Association senior vice president of racing and operations Andrew Offerman told Newsday. "But, in reality, it's because of the fact that he's been consistently good at his job for a very long time. When Bill Mott trusts you to ride his best horses year after year after year, you're doing something right."
His father, Rafael Alvarado, was a jockey in Venezuela so Junior Alvarado has been around race tracks since he was about 4. But he started playing baseball when he was 8 and, for a while, that became an equal passion.
"Then, when I turned 13, 14, everybody grew up," said the 5-6 Alvarado, who is tall for a jockey. "Everybody got very tall and I stayed very low to the ground. I said, 'You know what? This isn't for me.' "
Alvarado began racing professionally once he completed high school and he earned the first of his 125 graded stakes wins in 2009. But winning a Triple Crown race is much different.
"It's been amazing," Alvarado said. "[Monday] I was in Kentucky. Right when I was walking into the airport, everything came back again. This feeling walking into the airport almost like I own the place. It's just a very good feeling for me and my family to have achieved the Derby. Many jockeys that are great jockeys have retired without getting that big accomplishment in their career."
Alvarado didn't escape controversy in the Derby. Stewards fined Alvarado $62,000 and suspended him for two racing days for using his crop eight times despite a six-strike limit. It was Alvarado's second offense within 180 days after a $1,500 fine and a two-day suspension for seven strikes aboard Scotland at Churchill Downs on Dec. 1, 2024.
Alvarado is appealing his current fine and suspension but said he was unsure when a decision would be rendered.
"I'm strongly disagreeing with what they're saying that I swung my whip eight times," Alvarado said. "It was six times contact with the horse and I don't know where they're getting the other two. I even got to sit with the stewards and they couldn't count the other two."