Godolphin homebred Sovereignty again displayed powerful closing ability, this time in winning the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park March 1.
The bay son of Into Mischief raced for the first time since capturing the Street Sense Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old in October, when he went from last to first on the outside to win.
He produced a similar achievement Saturday, when he surged late to go ahead in the final strides and defeat WinStar Farm and CHC's River Thames by a neck in a winning time of 1:43.12.
"It was a great run, he had a great trip," trainer Bill Mott said. "We had a good post (2) on the inside, saved some ground on the first turn. He was able to tip out. He's got some acceleration."
The Fountain of Youth awarded Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale to the top five finishers. Sovereignty is now third on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 60 points for the May 3 Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.
The 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby (G1) March 29 seems to be a likely next step for the colt out of the Bernardini mare Crowned.
"I guess it's a good thing we've shown we can run over the track," Mott said. "It's on the list of things to be considered very strongly."
If the connections do choose to remain in South Florida, they won't have to worry about the Fountain of Youth's 1 1/16-mile layout that offered a relatively short run to both the first turn and wire.
"I thought the track bias was against us. That's the way it is," Mott said. "We knew that going in and we were prepared to suffer the consequences if it didn't work out."
Neoequos and River Thames vied for the lead out of the gate in the six-horse field. Neoequos and rider Irad Ortiz Jr. gained the edge and set fractions of :23.12, :47.07, and 1:10.68 with River Thames and jockey John Velazquez right behind.
Sovereignty was last on the backstretch, but moved into third while leaving the turn. River Thames took the lead turning for home and drew clear in midstretch to set up the winner's impressive stretch run.
"I was already a riding him a little bit and when I put him in the clear, it seemed like everything came back to his head and he turned it on," winning jockey Junior Alvarado said. "After that it was like, 'I hope we get there in time,' and he did. He kept grinding his way there."
Sovereignty paid $8.40. River Thames crossed the wire 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Neoequos.
River Thames' trainer, Todd Pletcher, said his colt is "still maturing."
"We actually got a perfect trip, stalking the horse that we thought would show speed," Pletcher said. "We were able to put him away and it looked like he was maybe home and I think he got a little complacent. The winner ran a very good race."
Whitham Thoroughbreds' Burnham Square, the favorite and winner of the Holy Bull Stakes (G3), was fourth, a neck behind Neoequos.
"All of a sudden, when I got him back to the outside, he really picked it up again," rider Edgard Zayas said of Burnham Square. "At the end he just got beat by two lengths, I think. He didn't get beat by much. I thought, wow, if he had given me this from the turn going into the stretch."
Sovereignty was the second graded stakes winner March 1 for six-time leading sire Into Mischief. Full Moon Madness scored in the Tom Fool Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack earlier in the day. The two join Barnes, Citizen Bull, and Eclatant as 2025 graded stakes winners for the sire, who stands for $250,000 at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington.
