Derby victor Sovereignty returns to win Belmont

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Sovereignty outran Journalism on Saturday in a Kentucky Derby rematch in the 157th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, the race again showcasing the best in horse racing.

Like last year, it featured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners. However, unlike last year and for the first time since 2018, one of those two won to secure two of the three legs of the Triple Crown.

"I think they are three really good horses," Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott said. "I'm glad [Sovereignty] was able to come back and have a race like he did in the Derby."

It was the second Belmont win for Mott. He spends most of his summer tending to his horses at Saratoga, so winning the Belmont at Saratoga was extra special.

"This is home," Mott said. "It's the race we were pointing for after the Derby, and fortunately it worked out very well.

"The horse was good. Junior rode him well."

It was the second Belmont at Saratoga, with renovations being made to its usual home at Belmont Park on Long Island.

Rodriguez, who made his Triple Crown debut, burst out and led the field of eight in the 1¼- mile race until the top of the stretch when Journalism made a surge. Followed closely behind was Sovereignty, with jockey Junior Alvarado aboard. He caught Journalism almost instantly and ran away with it.

The 5-2 second favorite finished in 2:00.69, beating Preakness winner Journalism by three lengths.

"He broke very well again today like he's been doing," Alvarado said. "He put himself in a good spot. I was a little shocked how close, but at the same time, I'm happy with how easily he was doing everything. As a jockey, I was very happy where he was."

Journalism ended up in second again, and Baeza was third --- the same 1-2-3 as the Kentucky Derby. Journalism, the only horse to run in all three legs, entered the gate at the Belmont as the 2-1 favorite, with Baeza the third favorite at 7-2.

Sovereignty paid $7 to win, $3.20 to place and $2.30 to show. Journalism returned $3.20 and $2.30, and Baeza paid $2.60.

Sovereignty led off the first leg of the Triple Crown by winning the Derby in early May. The colt also edged Journalism in that race.

After the Derby win, the Godolphin-owned 3-year-old opted out of the Preakness to focus on the Belmont, forfeiting a shot at history to win the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown hasn't been won since 2018, when Bob Baffert's Justify won the 150th Belmont Stakes to secure the third jewel.

Despite winning both legs of the Triple Crown that Sovereignty entered, Mott and Godolphin's Michael Banahan didn't regret not running him in the Preakness Stakes.

"I think if you leave the races out of it, it's what was the right thing to do for the horse," Banahan said. "That's what we talked about -- what was the right thing for the horse to do going forward?"

One of the reasons Mott and Godolphin skipped the Preakness was that they didn't want to exhaust the horse and wanted a long future for the three-year-old. There are a couple of stakes races later in the summer for three-year-olds, but the main one is at the end of the year, the Travers Stakes.

The Travers, at the end of the Saratoga meet, could be another loaded field and potentially another rematch between Journalism and Sovereignty.

"I'd love to come back and take a crack at the Travers in August," Mott said. "It's a race I've never won, but I think it's a very important race for a three-year-old like Sovereignty. I think if he's healthy, everybody would probably be in agreement that's the race we would point to."