Horse Racing: Excessive use of riding crop
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The jockey, who won the 151st Kentucky Derby, which took place on 3 May 2025, has been fined and suspended for excessive use of the riding crop.
The Venezuelan jockey, Junior Alvarado, who is 38 years old, struck his mount, Sovereignty, the three-year-old colt that won the race, eight times, according to the race officials.
The Regulations state that a rider may strike a horse a maximum of six times with a crop.
Alvarado was fined, by the US Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the sum of US$62,000 (around €55,800) and suspended for two forthcoming racing days at the Churchill Downs racecourse at Louisville, Kentucky.
The fine is normally 10% of the jockey's winnings, which amounted to US$31,000 (around €27,900), but was doubled, in accordance with the Regulations, because it was his second offence.
It was Alvarado's first Derby win, and the first for the horse’s owner, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
