For a tense few seconds at Saratoga, it felt like the unthinkable might happen. Sovereignty, the reigning Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, looked vulnerable. As they hit the top of the stretch in Saturday’s $500,000 Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes, the Godolphin 3-year-old colt was wide, shuffled back, and nearly swallowed up by the field. Baeza, ever determined, had taken the lead and floated Sovereignty into the middle of the track. The undefeated champion was in trouble… or so it seemed.
The race had started with Mo Plex stumbling slightly but still setting soft early fractions of 24.54 and 48.49. Sovereignty broke sharply and sat just off the pace, but midway down the backstretch, jockey Junior Alvarado made a surprising move. He let Baeza, under Hector Berrios, go by. By the time they hit mid-stretch, that confidence looked misplaced. Baeza had the rail and momentum. Sovereignty had traffic, tight quarters, and rising tension. But just when panic might’ve set in, Sovereignty responded the way champions do with timing, talent, and terrifying ease.
Alvarado didn’t panic. He didn’t even pull the whip. He just sat still and asked. Sovereignty surged forward, calmly and powerfully, pushing his nose in front and pulling away from Baeza, who once again had to settle for second. “I had a good try. I rode my horse how he was comfortable,” Berrios said. “In the turn, I tried to put the horse change the lane and my horse wanted to feel the other horse, and he came back. At the finish, he tried well.” Baeza gave it everything. It still wasn’t enough.
Sovereignty does it again! pic.twitter.com/559z2AabTl
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) July 26, 2025
The final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:49.52. Sovereignty paid $3.00 as the 1-2 favorite. Baeza finished second. Hill Road, the Peter Pan (G3) winner who had run ninth in the Belmont, came up for third. Mo Plex faded to fourth, and Sandman, the Preakness third-place finisher, failed to fire and finished last. The win added yet another jewel to Sovereignty’s growing legacy. And while some may dismiss the Jim Dandy as “just a prep,” it was anything but easy. “Just a prep,” Alvarado repeated, but it tested both horse and rider more than most had expected.
With Journalism back in California, the horse who had pushed Sovereignty hardest in the Derby and Belmont before winning both the Preakness and Haskell — Saturday’s field lacked that one familiar threat. Still, Sovereignty proved he can handle adversity from any direction. Now, with the Grade I Travers Stakes set for August 23, the Godolphin team has its sights on one more summer crown. But before this win, many people questioned Sovereignty.
Sovereignty faces the noise before Saratoga
Before the race began, a few doubted him loudly. Sovereignty, Godolphin’s undefeated Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, arrived back at Saratoga for the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes as the clear favorite. The buzz wasn’t about his brilliance; it was about what some believed he hadn’t proven yet. A viral post on X threw a match into the hay: “Sovereignty has exactly ZERO G1 wins over a fast track.” Technically true, and enough to ignite debate. Was he just a wet-track wonder? Could he handle Saratoga’s dry, unforgiving summer surface? For some fans, the real challenge wasn’t just the four horses he’d face but the reputation he had to defend. The backlash didn’t go unanswered.
Nathan Klein, the race announcer with sharp instincts, shot back with clarity. “He can’t control the weather. All five of his races before the Derby were on fast tracks: Street Sense, Fountain of Youth included,” he posted. “If you want to find a reason he’d lose today, it’s not the track.” That defense resonated, but the pressure stayed. Baeza, third in the Belmont. Sandman, third in the Preakness. Mo Plex, rising from an Ohio Derby win. And Hill Road, the quiet closer. All were dangerous. And all had eyes on August’s Travers, but a win here would shift everything. It wasn’t just a prep race. It was a declaration.
Trainer Bill Mott could’ve skipped the Jim Dandy altogether, but chose otherwise. “It’s been seven weeks since the Belmont. He’s not heavily raced this year. This feels right,” Mott said. With $4.87 million in earnings and a pedigree stacked with stamina (Into Mischief × Crowned by Bernardini), Sovereignty had already rewritten Godolphin’s U.S. racing story. But Saratoga isn’t sentimental. As he stepped onto the track, calm but alert under Junior Alvarado, the doubts still lingered. And in that moment before the gate sprang open, Sovereignty wasn’t just trying to win another race; he was trying to silence every voice that still questioned whether his magic was real.
The post Sovereignty Overpowers Rival as Horse Racing Comeback Wins Hearts appeared first on EssentiallySports.
