By T. D. Thornton
Junior Alvarado wasn't among this year's class of inductees over the weekend at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. But the 38-year-old veteran put on a mini-clinic across the street at Saratoga Race Course that underscored his versatility as an unheralded rider on an ultra-competitive circuit who consistently coaxes the best out of his mounts, regardless of surface, distance, running style or odds.
Although the headline-grabber among his trio of victories was Saturday's decisive wiring of the GI Whitney Stakes aboard the older-horse division's newest phenom, Arthur's Ride (Tapit), Alvarado also orchestrated an impeccably timed, come-from-behind drive to narrowly capture Friday's GII Hall of Fame Stakes with Neat (Constitution). And earlier that afternoon, he helped second-time-starter Two Sharp (Twirling Candy) attain 'TDN Rising Star' status by guiding that 3-year-old filly to an 11 1/4-length tally in a maiden special weight (MSW) sprint.
Of those three, only Two Sharp was favored to win. Alvarado let this $925,000 KEESEP filly roll out of the gate on the inside in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint, shrugged off mild early pressure, then allowed her to open up at will on the far turn and kick clear through the lane under her own power.
“Absolutely devastating,” was how track announcer Frank Mirahmadi described Two Sharp's victory at 1-2 odds.
The only thing that Alvarado might have hampered while keeping his filly under wraps as she sailed solo past the wire was her Beyer Speed Figure, which was assigned as 98 and certainly would have ticked into triple digits had Alvarado nudged her along a little faster. But what would have been the point?
Alvarado came from much farther back and had to go after multiple targets on the turf to nail the win with Neat in the Hall of Fame, rating from third-last in a field of eight.
That was a change in tactics from when he last rode the 3-year-old colt to a win in the GIII Manila Stakes June 29 at Aqueduct by pressing the pace in a five-horse race.
Again tasked with a mile, the 7-2 Neat broke alertly but was rated towards the rear by Alvarado. He edged closer down the backstretch, tipped five wide for the drive, but didn't seem truly in it to win it until the final 50 yards when Neat surged with purpose to wrest control in a three-horse photo.
Neat, who sold for $200,000 at both KEENOV and KEESEP, is now 6-for-9 lifetime, adding a Grade II victory to two previous Grade III wins and two other non-graded stakes, all on the grass. He's won the three graded races by a neck, a nose, and three-quarters of a length. He earned a career-best 87 Beyer in the Hall of Fame Stakes.
“When I turned for home, I tipped him out and he was so game, he kept fighting and grinding and kept going after the horse in front,” Alvarado said. “Eventually, he put his head in front right in front of the wire. I love this horse. He is my kind of horse–you can feel he has the fire to win.”
Arthur's Ride might turn out to be Alvarado's kind of horse, too. Maybe even the one that earns him his best shot yet in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.
Alvarado has partnered with this gray for trainer Bill Mott in four straight races since the 4-year-old recovered from a tendon strain that sidelined him from February 2023 until March 2024.
This $250,000 KEESEP colt started his career with a pair of seconds in two seven-furlong MSW contests at Saratoga in the summer of 2022 before resurfacing at Gulfstream on Feb. 11, 2023, in a one-turn mile. In that race, Arthur's Ride caught the eye by taking pace pressure at the rail from the 6-5 favorite for most of the race, then clawing back the lead not once, but twice, after losing it in the stretch.
That maiden-breaking effort earned him a berth in the TDN Derby Top 12 rankings, but the tendon trouble kept Arthur's Ride out of action until a Mar. 16, 2024, blowout return win at Gulfstream by 7 1/2 lengths in a first-level allowance, another one-turn mile.
On the Friday before the 2024 Derby, Arthur's Ride wanted no part of racing in the slop at Churchill Downs, finishing ninth, beaten 23 lengths, in a second-level, one-turn mile allowance.
Brought back at the same condition but at 10 furlongs during the GI Belmont Stakes festival at Saratoga June 7, Arthur's Ride rebounded with a 12 3/4-length drubbing that yielded a 111 Beyer.
Going into Saturday's Whitney, bettors had to balance Arthur's Ride's sharp comeback race and his affinity for the Spa with the knowledge that he'd once again have to deal with an “off” racetrack and Grade I stakes company for the first time, with several other projected speedsters, including the .95-to-1 favorite National Treasure (Quality Road), drawn to his inside.
The wagering public figured just a decimal point under 7-1 was a square mutuel for the prospect of Arthur's Ride out-gunning a fairly deep field from post nine over a muddy, sealed surface.
Arthur's Ride strikes a post after winning the GI Whitney Stakes | Tod Marks
Alvarado knew that he needed to seize control of the pace from the outset for Arthur's Ride to have his best shot. He outbroke National Treasure, but had to deal with the pesky presence of Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) before clearing the field.
Arthur's Ride cranked out consecutive quarter miles of :23.26, :23.37 and :23.65 while under legit pace pressure, yet turned for home with his ears pricked through a fourth-quarter split in an understandably slower :24.88 while responding to Alvarado's rousing to stay strong on the lead.
Arthur's Ride then left some pretty accomplished stakes horses in his wake, finishing up with a final furlong in :13.38 and a nine-furlong clocking of 1:48.54 that translated to a 110 Beyer while 2 1/2 lengths in front.
Galloping out on the turn, Alvarado displayed another form of athleticism by sprinting alongside Arthur's Ride for half a furlong after the colt unexpectedly ducked out and dislodged him.
“He just decided to spook and dropped me,” Alvarado said while being interviewed back aboard Arthur's Ride on the Saratoga simulcast feed, remounting as if nothing had happened. “But I still had a hold of the reins, and he made me run with him for a sixteenth of a mile.”
The Whitney is a “Win and You're In” qualifying race for the Breeders' Cup Classic, a stakes that has been won twice in the past three years by grays who first captured that year's Whitney–White Abarrio (Race Day) in 2023 and Knicks Go (Paynter) in 2021.
Unlike White Abarrio last year, who did not race between the Whitney and the Breeders' Cup, Mott said post-win that his gray could start next in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga Sept. 1.
If you can't wait another four weeks to see a Mott-trained offspring of that Tapit-Points of Grace mating in action, you're in luck: Arthur's Ride's younger sister, a 3-year-old filly named Genetics, is dual-entered in allowance races Monday at both Ellis Park and Horseshoe Indianapolis. The May 27 foal broke her maiden last time out at Indy in career start number seven, by four lengths at 1-10 odds.
Glassman Racing LLC, the same connections who own her older brother, bought Genetics for $525,000 at KEESEP back in 2022 when Arthur's Ride was still a maiden.
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