An iconic local diner has its eye on a potential Triple Crown winner.
Hildebrandt’s, a longstanding Williston Park diner serving up their famous ice cream alongside luncheonette classics, sponsored local jockey Junior Alvarado on his three-year-old colt, Sovereignty, in Saturday’s 151st Kentucky Derby.
He won.
“It was just crazy seeing this ice cream shop that we took over in Williston Park on TV with 20 million people watching,” said Zack Sarf, who’s co-owned Hildebrandt’s with his father, Randy, since 2022.
“I looked up at the sky and just thanked Jesus. The first word out of my mouth was thank you,” said Alvarado, sitting on a red Hildebrandt’s stool, on his reaction as he crossed the finish line. “The feeling is indescribable, still. I don’t think that it’s something a word can match.”
“I’m flying over the moon,” he added. “I’m still on cloud nine.”
Alvarado, who moved to the United States from Venezuela in 2007, has been riding for over 20 years. He said he’s always loved the feeling of being on a horse, laughing as he added that he tried to convince his parents to let him drop out of high school to pursue riding when he was a kid.
He’s ridden Sovereignty, a descendant of Secretariat, in a handful of races before this weekend’s derby and has been a competitive jockey on Long Island for over a decade.
“I have to be very strict with my diet as a jockey. I have to be very lightweight. I have to be small,” Alvarado said. “But the one thing that I like to cheat on throughout my career has always been ice cream.”
“So, he’s the perfect person to be my sponsor!” Alvarado laughed, then added seriously: “It means a lot to me that he wanted to do this with me. You want somebody who wants you and feels good about you at the same time. He made me feel that way.”
Alvarado and the Sarfs said they met years back and have become closer in the past year or so. Both said they initially bonded over their shared love of horses as the Sarfs own a dozen racehorses who split their time between New York and Florida.
“We just have a good relationship. I just think it was meant to be,” said Alvarado, adding that he was happy to now live in nearby Garden City Park so he’s able to stop by Hildebrandt’s more frequently.
“Our family’s been in horses for a very long time,” Sarf said. “We always try our best to support any of the jockeys we can.”
He added that Hildebrandt’s sponsored two other jockeys in Saturday’s race.
As a sponsor, Hildebrandt’s provided Alvarado with financial support to prepare for the race and travel to Kentucky, a winning bonus and unlimited ice cream. In turn, Alvarado wore Hildebrant’s gear, including pants, a turtleneck and a hat during and after the race.
“They should be getting a lot more money,” Sarf said of jockeys. “A lot of athletes have big sponsors like Nike behind them, but the jockeys don’t. So, they rely on people like us to help them out.”
The diner plans to sell the Hildebrandt’s hat that Alvarado wore after his win on Saturday at hildebrandtshats.com. Proceeds will go towards the Jockeys’ Guild, a union for unlicensed jockeys that provides them with support, advocacy and benefits like life insurance.
Sarf said Hildebrandt’s will continue to sponsor Alvarado as he competes in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in the coming weeks, as well as every race he competes in throughout the year.
“He can take anything he wants off our walls,” Sarf laughed. “He’s got our support.”
