JUNIOR ALVARADO WINS 2024 GEORGE WOOLF MEMORIAL JOCKEY AWARD FROM A NATIONWIDE VOTE OF HIS PEERS

ANNUAL PRESENTATION CEREMONY TO BE HELD AT SANTA ANITA THIS SPRING

Photo:Evers/Eclipse Sportswire/CSM

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 13, 2023) – Jockey Junior Alvarado has won the 2024 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award via nationwide vote of his fellow riders, capping off one of the most compelling stories in racing history. The award, which has been presented annually by Santa Anita Park since 1950, honors riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and for the sport of Thoroughbred racing. It is widely regarded as one of the most cherished honors given to a jockey as each year’s winner is determined by a vote of their peers.

In 2023, Junior Alvarado garnered national attention as the regular rider of Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish. Over two season Alvarado guided Cody’s Wish to seven stakes victories in nine starts including two Breeders’ Cup Dirt Miles. On a steady upward trajectory at age 37, Alvarado, a Venezuela native, most recently piloted Senor Buscador to victory in the world’s richest race, the Grade I, $20 million Saudi Cup.

A son of Venezuelan based jockey Rafael Alvarado, Junior Alvarado was born May 20, 1986, in Barquisimento, Venezuela. He broke his maiden near Caracas at age 19 on Dec. 30, 2005. Alvarado immigrated to the U.S. in 2007 and rode his first stateside winner at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 17 of that year. After being Arlington Park’s leading rider in 2009, he relocated permanently to New York in 2010. He registered his 1,000th career win at Saratoga four years later. In 2016, he was a close fourth in the Kentucky Derby with Moheymen his first Triple Crown race. He registered his milestone 2,000th career victory at Gulfstream Park in January of 2023.

With 2,117 career victories going into March, Alvarado’s top horses include Olympiad, winner of the 2022 Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes; Art Collector, winner of the 2023 Grade I Pegasus World Cup Invitational; Just F Y I, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 3 and, of course, fan favorite Cody’s Wish.

Junior Alvarado and his wife, Kelly, have three children, Adrian, Adalyn and Axel. Alvarado will be honored with the Woolf Award in a Winner’s Circle ceremony at Santa Anita this Spring.

Named for the late Hall of Fame jockey who gained national acclaim by winning the inaugural Santa Anita Handicap on Feb. 23, 1935 aboard Azucar, and later by piloting the immortal Seabiscuit to victory over Triple Crown Champion War Admiral in match race at Pimlico Race Course in 1938, the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been won by some of the greatest names in the history of the sport.

Alvarado was joined on this year’s Woolf ballot by fellow finalists Alex Birzer, Julien Leparoux, Edwin Maldonado and Rodney Prescott.

A date for the Woolf Award presentation ceremony at Santa Anita will be announced soon.