Sovereignty Runs Away With 3-Year-Old Male Title

Sovereignty's excellence was recognized the evening of Jan. 22 when the dual classic winner was named champion 3-year-old male at the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards at The Breakers Palm Beach in South Florida. Godolphin's homebred son of Into Mischief out of the Bernardini mare Crowned went 5-for-6 in 2025 in a campaign highlighted by victories in the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1), the June 7 Belmont Stakes (G1), and the Aug. 23 Travers Stakes (G1). The Bill Mott trainee also won the March 1 Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) to kick off his 3-year-old season and captured the July 26 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) between his Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes triumphs. His only loss came when he ran second to Tappan Street in the March 29 Florida Derby (G1). In the latter race at Gulfstream Park, he was without his regular jockey, Junior Alvarado, due to the rider being sidelined with a shoulder injury. Manny Franco subbed in the irons. Reunited with a healthy Alvarado in the Derby, Sovereignty ran down favored Journalism by 1 1/2 lengths before 147,406 fans at Churchill Downs, splashing his way to victory over a sloppy track before a national television audience of almost 22 million viewers. Sovereignty's victory, preceded by Good Cheer's triumph the day before in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), gave Godolphin, the international Thoroughbred racing and breeding juggernaut founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, an elusive double in the most prestigious races at Churchill Downs. "Unbelievable," said an awestruck Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock, moments after Sovereignty crossed the wire first in the Derby. Mott and the Godolphin team decided to buck Triple Crown tradition by foregoing a start in the second leg of the three-race series in the Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course two weeks later, a decision that disappointed Triple Crown purists but one they felt would better allow the colt to have a full and successful 3-year-old campaign. Journalism won the race in his absence. Rematched with Journalism as well as Kentucky Derby show finisher Baeza in the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown, Sovereignty all but clinched champion 3-year-old male honors by again defeating those rivals, this time cruising past Journalism by 3 lengths over 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga Race Course. Sovereignty would then beat Baeza by a length in the Jim Dandy at Saratoga before romping by 10 lengths against four overmatched rivals in the Travers, securing a first-ever victory for Mott in the Midsummer Derby. Alvarado also scored his initial Travers win. The bay colt became the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, Jim Dandy, and Travers in the same year. "This is the horse of a lifetime," Alvarado said after the Travers, reflecting on what Sovereignty has meant to his riding career. Following the Travers, Sovereignty was pointed to the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and traveled to Del Mar to compete, but he was scratched in the lead-up after running a fever, most likely from a viral infection.