When the sun sets on the 40th edition of the Breeders’ Cup, win or lose, jockey Junior Alvarado will be able to say he came loaded for bear.

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Of course, riding Grade 1 winners Cody’s Wish, War Like Goddess, and Just F Y I — all entering the World Championships off of stakes wins for Alvarado and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott — doesn’t portend victory in what will be highly competitive races. Still, the rider feels very satisfied with how things are shaping up for him.

“It’s exciting. We’re working every day to try to ride these nice horses and to ride them in big races like the Breeders’ Cup,” said Alvarado, whose longtime agent is Mike Sellitto. “I’m just happy to be in the spot that I am today. Things have been working out great this year. I want to continue to show people that I can get the job done, just like any other big jockey.”

IN THE ZONE

Through Oct. 28, Alvarado ranked 10th in the nation with $6.1 million in purse money won in stakes this year. He had wins in 19 stakes from 97 starts (20% win rate), compared with the riders ahead of him whose starts were significantly higher, and ranged from 139 to 256. In overall purse money won, Alvarado sat just outside of the top 10 with $10.4 million.

In addition to putting up solid numbers in 2023, the well-liked and affable Alvarado was honored with the Mike Venezia Memorial Award in August. Presented annually to a jockey who displays extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship, the award is voted on by fellow jockeys.

Bill Mott with Junior Alvarado (Eclipse Sportswire)

Like any athlete in the zone, that feeling lends itself to a certain degree of confidence. Alvarado, 37, is feeling those positive vibes heading into the Nov. 3-4 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park.

“Sometimes when you get in a bad slump, you start to second-guess yourself and think, ‘What’s happening? Why aren’t horses running for you?’ But it goes the same way when you’re winning, especially those big races, which make you feel like that you’re good and that every decision you make is working out,” he remarked. “Definitely, it puts you in a good spot mentally where you feel like you can help the horse get to the winner’s circle.”

Alvarado, who has been riding in the United States since 2007 after launching his career in his native Venezuela two years earlier, rode his 2,000th career winner in North America in January. He won his first Breeders’ Cup race last year aboard Cody’s Wish in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and the pair return this year seeking a repeat victory.

He rode War Like Goddess, a $2.4 million earner and multiple Grade 1 winner, for the first time when she won the Oct. 7 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes for a second year in a row. The 6-year-old will run against males in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, a race she finished third in last year with Joel Rosario aboard.

Alvarado’s other notable Breeders’ Cup mount is the undefeated 2-year-old filly Just F Y I, the winner of the Oct. 7 Frizette Stakes, who will run in the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

MOTT/ALVARADO FACTOR

Mott uses plenty of different jockeys, but he and Alvarado are quite the force when they team up — a relationship that dates back to the rider’s early years in New York when he rode Flat Out to win the 2013 Cigar Mile Handicap for the trainer. This year alone, through Oct. 26, Alvarado has ridden the Mott-trained winners of 11 graded races, including five Grade 1s.

“I would say Junior’s been riding 50% of the stable,” Mott said. “It’s been very good for me. He’s very consistent. He doesn’t mind riding the horses that are first-time starters. A lot of our first-time starters need a race or two to get going, and he doesn’t mind being part of that. There are other riders who get on a 2-year-old, and they only want to win, and not all of them are going to win the first time out. You’ve got to have a certain type of mentality to be part of a team that just wants to develop a horse and Junior has that. He’s also part of the team when it comes to getting the horses ready and getting on them in the mornings.”

A HORSE THAT KEEPS GIVING

Figuratively speaking, Cody’s Wish has been carrying more than just Alvarado on his back in his races. The touching story of Cody Dorman, for whom the horse is named, is a captivating one. Dorman has Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. The teenager cannot verbalize and is confined to a wheelchair, yet an undeniable bond between him and Cody’s Wish is apparent when the two share time together, which has been often thanks to the graciousness of Mott and his staff. Their first meeting dates back to when Cody’s Wish was a foal at Godolphin’s Gainsborough Farm in Versailles, Ky.

This summer, Dorman’s father, Kelly, said, “That horse, he has not only put Cody on his back and carried him through a lot of stuff, he has carried a lot of people all over the whole world.”

Alvarado has played a starring role in this heartstrings-tugging tale (he’s ridden Cody’s Wish in nine of his 15 career starts and has been aboard for seven of his wins, all in stakes). The racetrack chapter of this story concludes in the Breeders’ Cup, as it will be Cody’s Wish’s final race before entering stud in 2024 at Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Lexington. For Alvarado, the memories will linger long past that.

“It’s been unique,” the soft-spoken Alvarado said. “I’ve won other Grade 1s, rode in the [Kentucky] Derby, and the Breeders’ Cup, but riding this horse has been a whole different experience for me, something that I never experienced before. Not even close.

“I just think to myself that I want to keep this beautiful story going. This goes beyond me. I just want Cody’s Wish to win for the Dorman family. I’m blessed to be part of it, and I’m always doing my best to keep this story going.”

Alvarado said he also counts his blessings on the home front. He and his wife, Kelly, have three children: Adrian (12), Adalyn (8), and Axel (4). He said the arrival of Kelly in his life and the birth of their children put things in a different perspective for him.

“When I was single, it was all about riding horses. Once I got together with Kelly, my mind completely changed,” Alvarado shared. “I love riding, but I want to make sure I’m dedicated to my family life. Everything I do is for them.”