Mount Pleasant’s Jareth Loveberry competed in the 151st Kentucky Derby with his horse, Chunk of Gold, finishing in ninth place on a challenging, muddy track at Churchill Downs. Loveberry had previously expressed optimism about his chances, having secured a second-place finish two years prior.

The race was won by Sovereignty, who narrowly defeated the favorite, Journalism, marking jockey Junior Alvarado’s first victory in the prestigious derby.

Loveberry, a 2007 graduate of Mount Pleasant High School, developed his passion for horses early on while working at a local barn. The Kentucky Derby is the first event in horse racing’s triple crown, with the next race, the Preakness, scheduled for May 17 in Baltimore.