Jareth Loveberry, aboard Two Phil's, falls short in Kentucky Derby debut at Churchill Downs
While everyone else was celebrating Mage's come-from-behind victory in the 149th annual Kentucky Derby on Saturday, Jareth Loveberry sat just outside the track near the paddock at Churchill Downs.
For a year, he’d been jockeying Two Phil’s. The pair won the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks together on March 25, beating Major Dude by 5 ¼ lengths. Now they had just finished the first leg of the Triple Crown — narrowly losing to the Javier Castellano-ridden Mage.
It was an emotional moment.
“Tough to run second like that,” he said. “But, this horse gave me his all. He fought back when Mage came to him. Can't say enough about this horse and the whole team. It's been amazing.”
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Loveberry made his Kentucky Derby Saturday, 18 years after choosing a career in jockeying over architecture.
“It's an unbelievable journey,” the 35-year-old said. “Eighteen years of hard work, broken bones and dedication to the sport and determination that you can get there and believing in yourself and my family letting me do this because I don't get to see them a whole lot. … They're all here today, so it means everything.”
Loveberry grew up working on a farm in rural Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and continued that work while attending Baker College (Michigan) to become an architect. Balancing both was difficult and he trailed in his schoolwork, so he chose to pursue jockeying full-time.
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He got his start in 2005 riding Zamina Gold in a claiming race in Michigan and placed fourth, which came with a $5,200 purse. On Oct. 15, 2005, Loveberry competed in his first stakes race, riding Ambitious Gulch to a sixth-place finish in the Michigan Sire Stakes.
He's now won four graded stakes and has 1,759 first-place finishes in 12,844 starts.
Loveberry’s first race with Two Phil’s was a maiden special weight on July 18, 2022, at Colonial Downs in Virginia. He said the colt was “quirky early.”
“It took a lot to finally learn him, but I've been on him for a year now,” Loveberry added. “I know this horse and he knows me.”
Two Phil’s and Loveberry won their second race together, claiming a $50,000 purse in the Shakopee Juvenile Stakes on Sept. 17, 2022, at Canterbury Park in Minnesota.
“He’s always been a special horse," Loveberry said of Two Phil's prior to the Derby. "Great mover, effortless and his mentality has matured throughout the year, from last summer to now. I think that’s the biggest attribute now, his mentality.”
The Derby was their eighth race together. Loveberry said he was confident coming into Saturday’s race and was more nervous about the qualifying for the Run for the Roses than the Derby itself.
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But in that moment near the paddock Saturday, Loveberry tried to find the balance of being frustrated with the loss and being grateful for the journey.
“It's gonna take some time to think about this, but,” he said, pausing. “Yeah, it's going to take some time.”
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Derby 2023: Two Phil’s, Jareth Loveberry fall short to Mage