Junior Alvarado, the jockey who rode Sovereignty to victory at the 2025 Kentucky Derby, was fined $62,000 on Friday after the Horse Integrity and Safety Authority ruled he had whipped his horse too many times.

Sovereignty reigned on a rainy Saturday in the 151 st Kentucky Derby at a sloppy Churchill Downs in Louisville. Entering the race at 7-1, third when the betting windows closed, the 3-year-old colt held off pre-race favorite Journalism (3-1) down the stretch in the slop and mud by 1 ½ lengths in 2:02.31.