Churchill Downs: Sovereignty, Good Cheer win juvenile stakes

Godolphin homebred colt Sovereignty, winless in two New York starts around one turn, invaded Kentucky and relished the added distance to dominate Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Street Sense Stakes for 2-year-olds on opening day of the fall meet at Churchill Downs.

The win during the showcase card for 2-year-olds gave Sovereignty 10 points toward qualifying for Kentucky Derby 2025 over the same track on May 3.

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Sovereignty clocked 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:43.86, which dismantled King Fury’s 2020 stakes record of 1:44.30. He defeated Tiztastic by five widening lengths. Júnior Alvarado rode the Kentucky-bred son of Into Mischief for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Sovereignty completed a stakes sweep for owner-breeder Godolphin led by Sheikh Mohammed. In the previous race, Good Cheer easily won the listed $200,000 Rags to Riches, a points race for the 2025 Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 2.

Breaking from post 9 on the outside, Sovereignty was last in the early stages as Forged Steel led the way with fractions of 23.57, 48.00 and 1:12.52. Sovereignty remained in last midway around the second turn but was tipped out with 2 1/2 furlongs to go and was asked for his best run. Widest of all at the top of the stretch, Sovereignty circled the field, shot past the tiring Forged Steel and Dapper Moon at the eighth pole and drew away for the comfortable win.

“This is rare to see a horse break their maiden in a two-turn stakes race like today,” Alvarado said. “We knew that this horse had a lot of talent. He broke great today. When I turned for home, I just showed him the road, and he took off. Things are coming together with his development. I think as the distances get longer they will not be a problem for him.”

Sovereignty paid $4.86, $3.06 and $2.46 as the 7-5 favorite. Tiztastic, under Cristian Torres, returned $5.86 and $3.74. Sandman, with Brian Hernandez Jr. up, was another neck back in third and paid $3.76. Dapper Moon and Bracket Buster finished fourth and fifth in that order. The top five finishers earned 10-5-3-2-1 Derby qualifying points.

Forged Steel, Reach for the Rose, Comes a Time and Baby Boat finished sixth through ninth. Big Much was scratched.

Sovereignty earned $119,280 for his first win and improved his record to 3: 1-1-0 with $143,280 in earnings.

“It’s a true honor and testament to (Sheikh Mohammed) to let us develop these horses as 2-year-olds and get them ready to go in even bigger races as 3-year-olds,” Godolphin bloodstock director Michael Banahan said. “He trained very impressively in New York, and it’s not the easiest thing to bring a horse into a stakes race to break their maiden. But we had the confidence from how he ran in the two maiden races that he’d run a top effort here. It’s very special for us all to win a race like this, and hopefully get him some experience for some even bigger races as a 3-year-old next year here at Churchill Downs.”

Before the Street Sense, Sovereignty finished fourth in his Aug. 24 debut over six furlongs at Saratoga behind Tip Top Thomas, Rookie Card and Keywaydin. In his next start of a mile at Aqueduct on Sept. 27, he was a neck in back of front-running winner Praetor. 

The bay colt is out of the Bernardini mare Crowned.

Good Cheer closes to win Rags to Riches

Good Cheer overcame being shuffled back to last in the first few jumps of the race and rallied with a sweeping wide move on the final turn to easily breeze past leader Claire’s Charm and win the Rags to Riches by 4 3/4 lengths to remain unbeaten in three starts.

Ridden by Luis Sáez and trained by Brad Cox, Good Cheer ran 1 1/16 miles on fast dirt in 1:44.00. For Cox it was his record-extending fourth win in the race after previous triumphs with Monomoy Girl in 2017, Coach in 2020 and West Sunset in 2023.

Previously, Good Cheer broke her maiden at Indiana Grand in August by 8 1/4 lengths and followed that effort with a 17-length allowance score in sloppy going at Churchill Downs last month.

Breaking from post 4 in the field of five 2-year-old fillies, Good Cheer hesitated when the gates opened and was relegated to last going into the first turn as Claire’s Charm led through fractions of 23.88 and 48.06 seconds.

Good Cheer began to improve her position up the backstretch and into the far turn and circled three wide when they reached six furlongs in 1:12.63. She was full of run throughout and easily dominated her rivals down the homestretch.

“She was really impressive again today,” Sáez said. “I took her back off horses down the backside and saved ground. She relaxed and handled that very well. Around the turn, when I asked her for her best run, she was loaded. She’s a very impressive prospect with not a lot of seasoning behind her.”

Good Cheer, at odds of 3-5, paid $3.48, $2.28 and $2.10. Claire’s Charm, with Tyler Gaffalione aboard, returned $2.52 and $2.10. Sherbini, ridden by Hernandez, was another 4 1/2 lengths back in third and paid $2.10.

Adeera was fourth and Mechaya was last. My Lil Punky, Alyeska and Lady Orient were scratched.

Sunday’s payday was worth $123,000, and Good Cheer improved her record to 3: 3-0-0 with earnings of $215,160. She also collected 10 points on the road to the Kentucky Oaks. The five finishers earned points on a scale of 10-5-3-2-1. Had this been one of the major preps late in the winter or in the spring with such a small field, the points would have been reduced to 75 percent of their value.

“She’s shown a lot of talent in just three starts,” Cox said. “Today was obviously a new test trying stakes company for the first time. She handled being behind horses very well.”

By Medaglia d’Oro, Good Cheer is a Kentucky-bred bay filly out of the Street Sense mare Wedding Toast.