ABR Interview: Loveberry Talks Two Phil's, Derby Dreams

For America's Best Racing, Tom Pedulla is interviewing prominent owners, trainers, and jockeys as they travel the Road to the Kentucky Derby (G1) May 6 at Churchill Downs.

This week's installment features jockey Jareth Loveberry, 35. He is on course to ride in his first Kentucky Derby after guiding Two Phil's , trained by Larry Rivelli, to an emphatic 5 1/4-length victory in the March 25 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) at Turfway Park. Loveberry was competing a little more than three weeks after sustaining a hairline fracture to his left fibula in a starting gate accident.

The 5-8, 115-pound Loveberry was the leading rider by wins at Arlington Park in 2020 and 2021. He is among the top jockeys at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. He and his wife, Stacie, have two children, Kennedy, 10, and Colton, 6.

The Michigan native discussed his itinerant 18-year riding career and provided insight into Two Phil's and the significance of his long-awaited Derby debut during a question-and-answer session conducted on behalf of America's Best Racing.

PEDULLA: What led you to begin riding?

LOVEBERRY: There was a horse farm directly across the street from where I grew up. I started working there when I was 12, cleaning stalls and taking care of horses.

PEDULLA: That experience gave you the desire to ride?

LOVEBERRY: Oh, yeah. I started getting on horses when I was 14 and just loved them.

PEDULLA: I know you have ridden at many different circuits during your career. That must be difficult.

LOVEBERRY: I travel. I travel a lot. Wherever I need to be, that's where I'll be.

PEDULLA: You were among the leading riders at Fair Grounds when you hurt your fibula.

LOVEBERRY: I've been having a good meet at Fair Grounds. I might take a shot at Kentucky this year.

PEDULLA: What can you tell me about your work with Two Phil's? I see you were aboard when he broke his maiden at Colonial Downs in his second career start.

LOVEBERRY: I started working Two Phil's at Hawthorne Race Course before he ran his first race. When we went to Colonial, I started getting on him again. He's just matured and blossomed.

PEDULLA: Were you impressed the first time you got on him?

LOVEBERRY: He was just so smooth and such a good mover. He really started developing later in the fall. It was like 'Man, this horse is really getting good.'

PEDULLA: He's made eight career starts. His only poor performance after he broke his maiden came when he finished seventh in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) last October at Keeneland. What happened that day?

LOVEBERRY: It was his first time going long, his first time going against that class of horses. It looks like a poor performance, but I was more impressed with him in that race than in his wins before that. Just the way he felt underneath me, I thought, 'Okay, if he learns to relax into the first turn, which I think he will, he'll just become a better horse.' And he did.

PEDULLA: He ran second in the Lecomte Stakes (G3) and third in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) in his first two races as a 3-year-old. How did you evaluate those starts?

LOVEBERRY: Coming off the layoff in the Lecomte, he ran his race. I thought I might have moved just a touch early and he did get tired. He stayed at the Fair Grounds and, in the Risen Star, there was a little bit more speed in front of me and I just got beat again. But I thought he was developing. He was getting stronger and stronger.

PEDULLA: He made a big leap in the Jeff Ruby in his first race on a synthetic surface. Did that surprise you?

LOVEBERRY: When he came to Turfway for the Jeff Ruby, he just put it all together.

PEDULLA: What did that feel like?

LOVEBERRY: I felt it the whole race. He was just so powerful and comfortable. I was so confident and that's the way I rode him. Going to the wire, it was like 'We did it!' It was pretty surreal.

PEDULLA: You had sustained a hairline fracture in your fibula only a few weeks before that. How did you return so quickly?

LOVEBERRY: It had happened only about three weeks before in a gate incident at Fair Grounds. I fractured the fibula in my left leg and I was laying there thinking 'Oh, my God. I'm going to miss my horse, miss my opportunity.' But it's been manageable and I was able to tough it out.

PEDULLA: Are you riding in pain or how are you managing this injury?

LOVEBERRY: I put a couple of straps on it. Each day, it's feeling better and better. I was pulling up the horse after the Jeff Ruby and the outrider went to catch me and we slammed into each other. I was like, 'Ugh, that really hurt.' I was limping more than before. But it's OK. It's getting better.

PEDULLA: You have two straps on it? What kind of straps and what do they do?

LOVEBERRY: Elastic. It holds it for comfort.

PEDULLA: Can you be 100% for the Kentucky Derby?

LOVEBERRY: A week after the incident, I was told I could go back to work. The hairline had healed. The muscles around it are aggravating it. But the bone is fine.

PEDULLA: You are going to feel this for a while?

LOVEBERRY: Yes.

PEDULLA: I am always amazed by the injuries jockeys ride with. Is it a mindset you have to have?

LOVEBERRY: If we're not on our horses, then we're not making money. There are times that you've just got to get out there and do it.

PEDULLA: A lot still has to go right for Two Phil's to advance to the Kentucky Derby. But you know you have a horse with enough points to be there. What does that feel like?

LOVEBERRY: I don't know if it's set in yet.

PEDULLA: Do you think Two Phil's can be a factor in the Derby?

LOVEBERRY: I really do. As a 2-year-old, he won at Churchill in the Street Sense (G3). He's been up against the big 3-year-olds and he's been a competitor.

PEDULLA: How encouraging is it to know he has won at Churchill? I guess he likes that track?

LOVEBERRY: Oh, he loved it. It was raining and sloppy and he really likes the mud. Maybe it will be a rainy Derby Day.

PEDULLA: What does it mean to your family that you have your first Derby mount?

LOVEBERRY: My wife and I are on Cloud Nine. The kids, I don't know if they really understand it. I told my daughter. I said, 'Kennedy, I'm in the Kentucky Derby.' She looked up and said, 'Really?' I told my son and he's like, 'OK.'

PEDULLA: Well, they'll understand some day.

LOVEBERRY: Right.

PEDULLA: Where do you hope to take your career, Jareth?

LOVEBERRY: You know, I just want to win races and take care of my family. The rest of it can take care of itself. Obviously, I want to win good races. But milestones, I don't know if I've actually thought about that part.