Jockey Junior Alvarado has filed an appeal of the fine and suspension levied for excessive crop usage during his victorious ride in the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) announced Tuesday that Alvarado has appealed the $62,000 fine and two-day suspension.
‘In accordance with HISA’s standard procedure, the appeal will be referred to the Internal Adjudication Panel for further proceedings,’ HISA announced in a statement.
No date has been set for the appeal hearing in front of the three-person adjudication panel. A HISA spokesperson said Alvarado will have the opportunity to speak during the hearing if he chooses.
Alvarado’s two-day suspension set for May 29-30 will be stayed until the appeal is decided.
HISA announced the fine and suspension on May 9 after ruling Alvarado used his crop eight times on Sovereignty during the Kentucky Derby. HISA rules allow jockeys to use their crops no more than six times.
‘I would like to just get it over with and put it behind me,’ Alvarado told the Daily Racing Form last week. ‘I don’t want to carry this one extra day, but at the same time I don’t want to give up that easily like they were right. I would like to move forward and fix something. As everybody can see, it’s unfair the penalties we’re facing. Maybe (by appealing) we can get something good out of this.’
Days after the Derby, Alvarado addressed the possibility of a fine on The C.L. Brown Show, hosted by C.L. Brown, columnist for the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.
‘I forgot it was a rule,’ Alvarado said. ‘I was seeing my dream coming true right in front of me. The whip rule was the last thing I had in my mind. I have to pay the consequences, I guess.’
Sovereignty is expected to return to action in the Belmont on June 7 at Saratoga.
Alvarado, 38, is a native of Venezuela and got his first Kentucky Derby victory in six tries with Sovereignty’s triumph.