Sovereignty, the winner of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, showed no ill effects from the Triple Crown season as he turned in a splendid prep for the Aug. 23 DraftKings Travers Stakes by powering to a length victory over a determined Baeza in the Grade 2 $485,000 Jim Dandy Stakes presented by Mohegan Sun July 26 at Saratoga Race Course.

"It was good. It was a winning trip, a winning ride, a winning run," Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. "Hopefully he comes back good and trains as well for the Travers. We're trying to get ready for the Travers and that's the main objective for everybody. The Travers is important to me. It's a race I've never won and I'd really like to win it before I check out."

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The 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy was Sovereignty's first start since the June 7 Belmont Stakes at the Spa. With the Travers four weeks away, the Godolphin-owned homebred son of Into Mischief faced the challenge of not being 100 percent cranked up for a race in which his late-running style figured to work against him in a field of five with only one speed horse. Sovereignty's class bubbled to the top, however, as he raced closer to the pace than usual when third after a half-mile mark and still closed strongest in the stretch.

"It was nice to get that behind him," said Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock. "He trained well into it but obviously he wasn't cranked up all the way. So, go out there, get the win, and move on to the next one, just like a basketball tournament. Hopefully this will set us up nicely for the Travers. There are going to be new shooters in (the Travers) which you can't take lightly. So, we'll want to have our running shoes on that day as well."

The Jim Dandy unfolded as expected with New York-bred Mo Plex setting the pace through fractions of :24.54 and :48.49 while Baeza and Sovereignty alternated between second and third.

Turning for home, Mo Plex faded as Baeza and Sovereignty rallied wide and pulled away. Sovereignty grabbed a short lead at the top of the stretch and then fended off Baeza by a length. Sovereignty, the 1-2 favorite in the five-horse field, paid $3.00 to win.

Sovereignty crossed the wire in 1:49.52 with a final furlong clocked in :12.70.

Sovereignty wins at the Spa. (Gary Johnson/Eclipse Sportswire)

"It's been amazing. This is what dreams are made of," jockey Junior Alvarado said after Sovereignty's third straight win. "You wake up every morning and you come to work hoping one day one of those horses comes across you and you get to ride it. For me, this is a dream horse."

Baeza, trained by John Shirreffs, finished a distant second and was 9 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Hill Road. Mo Plex and Sandman rounded out the order of finish.

"My horse," jockey Hector Berrios said about Baeza, "he just didn't focus on the race. He's green. He needs more distance."

The victory was the fifth in eight starts for Sovereignty and pushed his earnings past the $5 million mark to $5,147,800.

Attendance for the Saratoga Saturday card was 36,481 and all-sources wagering totaled $33,574,677.