SARATOGA SPRINGS — No jockey in the nation — perhaps no athlete, for that matter — has seen more ups and downs this spring than Long Island-based Junior Alvarado.
He’s been injured falling off a horse that had suffered a heart attack, won the Kentucky Derby aboard Sovereignty, been fined and suspended for alleged whip abuse in that life-changing triumph, and felt the letdown of his horse being held out of the Preakness, ending his Triple Crown hopes.
There’s still so much more to the Alvarado and Sovereignty story to be told, beginning Saturday in the 157th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
There will be seven other horses in the field, including Preakness winner Journalism, who is the 8-5 morning line favorite, just ahead of 2-1 Sovereignty.
Other top contenders include Baeza, who ran third in the Kentucky Derby, Bob Baffert-trained Rodriguez and Bobby Flay-owned Crudo.
Alvarado wasn’t sure he’d get to ride Sovereignty for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott in the Kentucky Derby.
On March 23, he was aboard Term in the 10th race at Gulfstream Park.
Term suffered a fatal heart attack, throwing Alvarado and fracturing his shoulder blade.
He missed his Florida Derby ride on Sovereignty but was back for the Derby.
At Churchill Downs, Sovereignty outdueled Journalism down the stretch for the 39-year-old Alvarado’s crowning glory.
“It’s the greatest achievement I have in my career as a jockey,” Alvarado told The Post in a wide-ranging conversation outside Sovereignty’s barn at Saratoga. “Even personally, it’s taken me to many good places. It’s been a really good experience, not only for me but with my family.”
Alvarado’s victory tour has included throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium and having an ice cream flavor — Junior Mint — named after him by his sponsor, the 98-year-old Hildebrandt’s of Williston Park.
“We’ve been a team and it’s nice to have a teammate that can participate in something like that,” Mott said. “He’s been very loyal to us in terms of being willing to ride whatever we wanted him to ride and he’s done a good job for us. So that’s special.”
The jockey, who resides in Garden City with his wife, Kelly, and three children, became an instant local celebrity after his victory at Churchill Downs.
“It’s been very interesting. When we got home Sunday morning, we had a ‘Congratulations’ on the front door, we had an inflatable horse, I couldn’t even believe people already knew that and were putting stuff up at the house,” he said. “Everywhere in town where we go, someone recognizes me. It’s been very heartwarming.”
The joyride did not include a chance to win the Triple Crown, however, as Mott and ownership at Godolphin Racing quickly opted to skip the Preakness and rest up for the Belmont.
“For me, the dream was to win the Derby,” he said. “Once I won the Derby, a few days later, I started thinking I probably could have a chance at a Triple Crown.
“But I know the way Bill Mott works and that there would be a slim chance he would get to run in the Preakness. Eventually he did say to me that they wanted to skip that. So you’re a little bummed about it. You want to have a Triple Crown, you have the ability to [win] one, but you’ve got to do what’s best for the horse.”
Alvarado is the son of Venezuelan jockey Rafael Alvarado.
Junior — his legal first name after his parents listed it as Junior Rafael Alvarado on his birth certificate — came to the U.S. in 2007 as a bug boy (apprentice jockey).
His Kentucky Derby joy was tempered by a two-day suspension and $62,000 fine by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for allegedly whipping Sovereignty eight times (the limit is six).
Alvarado says an appeal is pending and that although he presented the whip eight times, he struck the horse only six times.
Mott agrees, telling The Post he’s watched the video numerous times and counted only six strikes.
“I don’t think they can count,” he said.
None of that will matter Saturday, and Alvarado believes he has the best horse in the Belmont.
“He’s very smart,” Alvarado said of Sovereignty. “He lets me know. He tells me when he’s ready. At a certain point in the race, he kind of jumps on it and, ‘Hey, I’m ready to go.’ After that you just take the reins and guide him and most of the time he’s there for me.”