CNN
–
The Sovereignty, the winner of the 2025 Kentucky Derby, won his 157th run Saturday at Saratoga Springs, New York.
The 3-year-old, owned by Godolphin, who raced as a 5-2 favourite, slightly beat the other favourites and Preakness Stakes winner, Journalism, with three length margins.
Winning means that sovereignty has won two legs of the horse racing triple crown. The horse team called after the Derby to avoid sovereignty last month’s Preakness and instead focused on Belmont.
Baeza came in third place. It’s 1-2-3, the same as last month’s Kentucky Derby.
Sovereignty jockey junior Alvarado called his first victory in “Surre” in two of his most valuable races.
“I had a point in my career, probably five or six years ago. I was able to see everything fade away, to be honest. “…My family has always been my rock, a big advocate. They have helped me through the tough moments of my life.”
Billmott, the winner and sovereign trainer of the two-time Belmont Stakes, said the decision to leave Preakness was “good.”
“If we didn’t win today, we would have received a lot of criticism,” Mott said. “It turned out to be good. Sometimes you make the right decisions, and often the wrong decisions. But today, it really worked.”
The Triple Crown didn’t win since Bob Baffert’s Justify won the 105th Belmont stake in 2018.
With the Belmont Park being renovated, it was the second consecutive year that Saratoga Race Course held the Belmont Stakes. The race is expected in 2027 in Elmont, New York.
This story has been updated with additional reports.