Sovereignty is latest star for Mott-Alvarado-Godolphin team

For many in horse racing, success is all in the family, whether it be the connections of the sport’s star athletes or the pedigrees of blue-blooded horses. For the trio of Godolphin, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, and jockey Junior Alvarado, “family” is the best way to describe the closely knit connections of Saturday’s Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty.

“I do my best for everybody, but you feel the power when you get those blue Godolphin silks on,” Alvarado said. “You know that it could be something special. If it’s a horse that’s never run, you always think this could be a good one.”

The trio have achieved success at the pinnacle of the sport with horses like Grade 1 winner Speaker’s Corner, three-time graded stakes-winner Caramel Swirl, and dual Champion Cody’s Wish, who retired in 2023 after a career that featured back-to-back wins in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and a story that touched the nation as he ran in honor of the late Cody Dorman.

Cody’s Wish brought the venerable connections closer together than ever, and when the Curlin colt departed the Mott barn to take up stud duties at Darley’s Jonabell Farm, a question lingered about who the next great horse could be for the team. Enter Sovereignty, who debuted last summer at Saratoga and went on to piece together the next chapter in the great saga of Mott-trained and Alvarado-ridden Godolphin color-bearers.

“It’s been an amazing ride since Cody’s Wish,” Alvarado said. “When (Sovereignty) crossed the wire first in the Derby, I called my agent a couple weeks later and asked, ‘how many babies are we getting, are we looking any good … ?’ That’s the excitement. You keep looking for the next champion for next year. With Bill, there’s always a good chance. He’s a great horseman, and great horses keep coming into the barn.”

Sovereignty has solidified his status as one of the greats for Mott, adding a three-length triumph in Saturday’s 10-furlong Belmont Stakes to a similar 1 1/2-length annexing of the Kentucky Derby in May. The Belmont victory, which came thanks to a close stalking trip engineered by Alvarado, was awarded a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form.

Mott said he was not surprised, but grateful to see the son of Into Mischief storm past Preakness winner Journalism in the stretch just as he did on the first Saturday in May.

“I’ve been doing this for over 50 years. I’ve had more than one disappointment over that time. There was no doubt,” Mott said. “It’s just if you have any experience at all, you ready yourself for anything that could happen. You never know. The horse could stumble out of the gate. He could get carried wide. I’ve seen enough 1-5 or 3-5 shots get beat. There’s no such thing as a sure thing. That’s why they run the race.

“He looked good (Sunday morning). He was out early when I got here,” Mott added. “They got him cleaned up and walking. His wheels were good. He jogged good. He ate up everything. He has always been good. He’s a tough horse. He’s a hearty horse. He has a great appetite. He’s a trainer’s dream.”

Alvarado and Mott have proven to be one of racing’s most dynamic pairings in the past five years, teaming up on high-profile horses for other owners in Grade 1-winners Art Collector, War Like Goddess, Arthur’s Ride, Casa Creed and Olympiad, among others.

“It’s the way he works,” Alvarado said of the key to his prosperity with Mott. “The way he trains his horses is the same way I like to ride my horses. I like to let them run the race however they want to and I want them to feel comfortable, to do it the right way. That’s what Bill does. We’re not rushing any horses early on in the races and we don’t want to push them to make them do something they’re not ready to do. We’ll take our time if it takes three, four, five, six, seven, eight, ten races, we’ll take it race by race.”

That patience was key to Saturday’s victory for Sovereignty, who was pointed towards the Belmont immediately following the Derby instead of the traditional route a Derby winner takes to the Preakness two weeks later in Baltimore. Mott quickly returned the colt to his home base at Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track, where he made his preparations for his rematch with Journalism.

“He’s a horse who is pretty adaptable. This is a pretty good environment for both of us,” Mott said. “He’s here. He’s comfortable. He’s got a nice shade tree out here. He’s got some green grass to eat, and he’s got pretty good people who take care of him. Here is a good spot for him. I’m sure if we were somewhere else, I don’t know if it would change anything dramatically. Here, I think the good thing is, naturally, the environment that he lives in with the racetrack that he is able to train on, I think we feel pretty comfortable about training over this track.”

Luckily for the Sovereignty camp, some of the nation’s most prestigious events for sophomores take place right in their backyard again this summer during the Saratoga meet, led by the Travers (G1) on Aug. 23, one of the only marquee events absent from Mott’s remarkable list of accolades. The traditional local prep for the Travers is the Jim Dandy (G2) on July 26, a race Mott sees as a logical steppingstone.

“I think we are very lucky, if we are talking about the Travers, we’ll probably stay here until then. I think we would probably run in the Jim Dandy,” Mott said. “I think that’s a good possibility. Surely, it’s not set in stone. It’s here. This is all depending on him, what he’s doing, and what the next couple of months brings. If he was going to have a race before the Travers, it would be the Jim Dandy. I’m sure by the time the Jim Dandy rolls around, he’s probably going to be ready to do something.”

After Sovereignty napped in the deep straw of his stall overlooking the Oklahoma training track on Sunday morning and Mott finished chatting with reporters, Alvarado, his wife Kelly and their children Adrian, Adalyn and Axel visited with Sovereignty and feed him carrots beside longtime Mott employee Erma Scott, all members of not just the same racing team, but of a family forged over some of racing’s most celebrated horses.

For Mott, mornings like this are the most satisfying.

“I’m relieved. Sometimes, you get into a situation with a horse like this and probably there is a lot of expectations not only from me, but from everyone around him,” Mott said. “So, instead of a high, it’s a relief they showed up and did what you thought they should do or could do. He did it. Now, it’s like letting the air of the balloon. It’s over, at least for yesterday.”