Sovereignty, with Junior Alvarado in the saddle, drew clear of Journalism in deep stretch to win the Belmont Stakes by three lengths June 7 at Saratoga Race Course. (Eclipse Sportswire)
There can be no second-guessing Mott now after Godolphin homebred Sovereignty drew away from Preakness victor Journalism by three lengths for a rousing triumph in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
The 157th Belmont, run before a thrilled crowd of 46,243 at Saratoga Race Course, left no doubt as to the top 3-year-olds in the land. With Baeza running third, another 3 ½ lengths behind Journalism, the $2 million Belmont replicated the Kentucky Derby finish.
It should be noted, though, that Journalism, who extricated himself from a world of trouble in the Preakness, was the only sophomore to compete in all three classics. He perhaps showed the effects of that extremely challenging 1 3/16-mile test as Sovereignty, under a patient ride from Junior Alvarado, blew past him and poured it on in the final strides of the 1 ¼-mile “Test of the Champion.”
Sovereignty, a splendid son of white-hot sire Into Mischief, completed his tour de force in 2:00.69. The race was reduced to a mile and a quarter from the customary mile and a half and held at Saratoga for the second consecutive year while traditional host track Belmont Park undergoes a massive $455 million makeover.
Sovereignty prevailed for the fourth time in seven career starts with a pair of runner-up efforts and became the clear leader in the race for the Eclipse Award as North America’s leading 3-year-old male. His $1.2 million share of the purse hiked his career earnings to $4,872,800.
The outcome raised a weighty what-if question. If Sovereignty had been entered in the Preakness, might he have met the demands of one of the stiffest challenges in all of sports and emerged as the 14th Triple Crown champion?
It is a question that, of course, can never be answered. Michael Banahan, Godolphin’s director of bloodstock, was not about to let it diminish Sovereignty’s latest accomplishment.
“Who knows what would have happened. It’s water under the bridge,” Banahan said. “All you can do is focus on your horse. It was the right thing to do for our horse. The horse had run a hard race in the Kentucky Derby. We’re looking to have a horse for the whole year and have a career with him as well.”
Mott, whose decision was viewed by some as less than sporting, felt somewhat vindicated with the result. “This is home. It’s the race we were pointing for after the Derby and fortunately it worked out well,” he said. “I’m sure we would have taken some criticism had he gotten beat today and he hadn’t run in the Preakness. But it worked out.”
A tour de force by Sovereignty at the Spa. (Eclipse Sportswire)
With $80.80-1 longshot 2022 Derby winner Rich Strike also not going on to the Preakness, recent events have renewed the debate about whether the Triple Crown format should be adjusted to allow more time between starts.
There is no doubt that Sovereignty benefitted from having five weeks to recover from the rigors of the 1 ¼-mile Derby.
“He came into the race in great shape and you saw what he can do,” Banahan said.
Said Alvarado: “I couldn’t believe how much horse I had the whole way around.”
In perhaps a sign of his relative freshness and a reflection of the eight-horse field compared to the 19-horse Derby calvary charge, Sovereignty tended much closer to the pace in the Belmont after rallying from far back for a 1 ½-length Derby score.
Mott said he never anticipated that. Neither did Alvarado. “I was a little shocked to have him that close but how easily he did it,” the jockey said.
Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets winner Rodriguez, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, did what was expected of him by taking the field through an opening quarter of a mile in 23.42 seconds, a half-mile in 47.60 seconds and three quarters of a mile in 1:12.20.
His lead was dwindling, though, after he carved out a mile in 1:36.70. Sovereignty and Journalism were waiting all along to pounce. Journalism, after bobbling at the start and being carried three to four wide around the first turn, made the lead at the top of the stretch. But Sovereignty had far too much in the tank and Journalism’s advantage was short-lived.
Mott and Godolphin each won the Belmont for a second time. Mott first got on the board with Drosselmeyer in 2010, and Godolphin with Essential Quality four years ago.
The Belmont continued a wonderful ascent for Venezuelan jockey Junior Alvarado. He burst into national prominence with his cool handling of late-running Cody’s Wish, another Godolphin homebred who blossomed into the Horse of the Year in 2023. Now, he owns his first two Triple Crown tallies thanks to Sovereignty.
“It’s been surreal,” he said.
Trainer Michael McCarthy, meanwhile, sounded as though he cannot wait for a rematch with Sovereignty when they are more even in terms of time between starts. It may come in the DraftKings Travers Stakes at Saratoga in late August. It may have to wait until the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar in early November.
McCarthy said of the circumstances surrounding the Belmont, “Any time good horses get space in between their races, they are very, very dangerous. He (Sovereignty) is a very good horse. He trains up here, he’s been up here for a while, he’s in his backyard.
“Let’s hope everybody stays happy and healthy and we’ll see him in Del Mar, hopefully in November in our backyard.”
Can’t wait.
2025 Belmont S. Presented by NYRA Bets June 7th, 2025
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