Sovereignty surges in stretch for 10-length triumph in Travers

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Sovereignty continued his winning ways in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. In doing so he strengthened his position as the top 3-year-old male in the country. The Godolphin homebred son of Into Mischief upped his streak of graded-stakes victories to four, which include three Grade 1 races.

Sovereignty topped the field of five by 10 lengths with a final time of 2:00.84 for the 1 1/4 miles, the third-fastest since 1977 in Saratoga’s signature race. He became the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes and the Travers since Thunder Gulch accomplished the feat in 1995.

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“He proved how good he was when he pulled away the last eighth of a mile,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said right after the race. “He’s pretty special. I don’t know how it gets much bigger than this Travers victory.”

Mott won the mid-summer derby for the first time in his career. Mott had run in the Travers 12 times before with three second-place finishes, which included Vision and Verse in 1999, Hold Me Back in 2009 and Tacitus in 2019.

“It’s something I’ve been waiting on,” Mott said about the Travers. “I had two or three races on my bucket list, and one was the Met Mile (G1) which we got done with Cody's Wish, and the one that was left was the Travers. Now, the only thing to do is to try and come back and repeat. Those are some of the most important races. For me racing primarily in New York now, the Kentucky Derby was great, but I must say for me, I think the Travers is a great race to win. It’s very satisfying and gratifying to get that done.”

The field of five 3-year-olds came out of the gate evenly. As expected, Magnitude, the front-end winner of the Iowa Derby last month, went right to the lead. He was followed closely by Bracket Buster and McAfee with Strategic Focus in fourth. Sovereignty and regular rider Júnior Alvarado were content to settle last, about two lengths behind the pacesetter after the first quarter.

“It was a little bit different today as we stayed between horses. I just didn’t want to go wide this first turn,” Alvarado said. “He handles everything that I try with him. He just does it so professionally with no hesitation.”

Sovereignty moved up to fourth after a half-mile. He got to third after six-furlongs as Bracket Buster had taken over the lead. Alvarado continued to guide Sovereignty in the three path, and they got to second place after a mile. The fractions up to that point were 23.47, 47.33, 1:11.23 and 1:36.02.

“When I turned for home I kind of knew where I stood with him,” Alvarado said. “I asked him a little bit, and he went on very beautifully today.”

Alvarado continued to urge Sovereignty strongly as they came out of the final turn and into the homestretch. The bay colt easily went by Bracket Buster and was ahead by three lengths at the stretch call as the field strung out toward the wire. At the end of the 10 furlongs, the field was spread out down the stretch by margins of 10, 10 3/4, 12 1/2 and 34 1/2 lengths between the five of them.

“This is the horse of a lifetime,” Alvarado said. “All of my big wins come from him. I can’t thank the Godolphin people and Billy Mott for having the trust in me and letting me ride the beautiful horses.”

With the Travers victory Sovereignty improved his career record to 9: 6-2-0. The $687,500 winner’s share of the purse pushed his earnings to $5,835,300.

Sovereignty was sent off as the odds-on favorite at 3-10 and paid $2.60 and $2.10 for win and place wagers. There was no show wagering offered. At 17-1, Bracket Buster was second and completed a $2 exacta that paid $19.80.

Magnitude was the second choice in the betting at 7-2 and produced a $2 trifecta of $45.80. McAfee was fourth at 20-1, and Strategic Focus was 7-1 but was eased in the stretch and walked off the track.

Looking ahead Sovereignty probably will face older horses for the first time in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“We’re going to have to go up against the older guys now, but those decisions have to be made by the Godolphin team,” Mott said. “We’ll see where we go from here. Sierra Leone is very good. I think everyone knows he’s a capable horse. He won (the Whitney, G1) here earlier in the meet, and he won the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year. There’s horses out there that can run.”