![\"Sovereignty\u00a0returns](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/6aebe8_2089f86ab36a4e70b8c07a70ce7c6779~mv2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Kentucky Derby (G1)\u00a0and Belmont Stakes (G1)\u00a0winner will look to continue his upward trajectory toward the Travers Stakes, facing familiar rivals such as Baeza, Sandman, and Hill Road.<\/p>\n
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Sovereignty\u00a0returns to the track where he won the Belmont Stakes \/ ADAM COGLIANESE \/ NYRA<\/p>\n
SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (Special for Turf Diario).- With a campaign that has already crowned him as one of the best colts of his generation, Sovereignty\u00a0will go postward Saturday seeking another victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2), the traditional prep race for the Travers (G1)\u00a0at Saratoga. The 1 1\/8-mile dirt race carries a purse of $500,000 and brings together several of the season\u2019s top contenders.<\/p>\n
Representing the historic colors of Godolphin\u00a0and trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Sovereignty\u00a0dominated the first two jewels of the U.S. Triple Crown, defeating the outstanding Journalism\u00a0(Curlin) on both occasions. In the Kentucky Derby (G1), he rallied from 16th position to score by 1 \u00bd lengths over a muddy track, and in the Belmont Stakes (G1), here at Saratoga, he controlled the race wire-to-wire, defeating the same rival by three lengths, with Baeza\u00a0finishing third in both races.<\/p>\n
With a record of seven starts, four wins, and two seconds, and earnings topping $4.8 million, Sovereignty\u00a0is by Into Mischief\u00a0out of Crowned\u00a0(by Bernardini), and is a maternal grandson of Grade 1 winner Mushka\u00a0(Empire Maker), who was also trained by Mott. The bay wrapped up his preparations with a half-mile work in 49.82 seconds over the Oklahoma training track on July 19, and will break from post 5 with Junior Alvarado\u00a0aboard carrying 124 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing very well, his last race was good, no issues,\u201d said Mott, who has won this race four times. \u201cWe expect a good trip and a bit of luck. In this game, anything can happen until the numbers go up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second choice on paper is Baeza\u00a0(McKinzie), who will break from the rail with Chilean rider H\u00e9ctor Berr\u00edos\u00a0(120 pounds). Trained by John Shirreffs\u00a0for C R K Stable\u00a0and Grandview Equine, Baeza\u00a0was third in the Derby and Belmont and also showed well when runner-up to Journalism\u00a0in the Santa Anita Derby (G1). \u201cHe didn\u2019t have his best race in the Belmont,\u201d said Shirreffs. \u201cPrat told me he had a hard time getting engaged on the backstretch. He had to run hard from the 800 meters. He can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third in line is Sandman, a son of Tapit\u00a0trained by Mark Casse, who came from off the pace to finish runner-up to Journalism\u00a0and Gosger\u00a0(Nyquist) in the Preakness Stakes (G1). Previously, he captured the Arkansas Derby (G1)\u00a0and will wear blinkers for the first time. \u201cI hope it doesn\u2019t take away from his kick, but that\u2019s something we have to try,\u201d said Casse. With three wins in 10 starts and earnings over $1.4 million, he will be ridden by Jos\u00e9 Ortiz\u00a0from post 2 carrying 124 pounds.<\/p>\n
Rising star Mo Plex\u00a0(Complexity), bred in New York with five wins from eight starts, will also try to make an impact. He was dominant in the Ohio Derby (G3), defeating Chunk of Gold\u00a0(Preservationist), and has shown stamina for the distance. \u201cWhat impressed me most was his late kick; I think the 1 \u00bc miles suits him very well,\u201d said trainer Jeremiah Englehart. He will be ridden by Manny Franco\u00a0from post 3 (122 pounds) and faces the toughest test of his career.<\/p>\n
Completing the field is Irish-bred Hill Road\u00a0(Quality Road), a pupil of Chad Brown, who finished a strong fifth in the Belmont and previously won the Peter Pan Stakes (G3). In preparation, he worked alongside Sierra Leone\u00a0(Gun Runner), the three-year-old champion and hero of the Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic (G1). Starting from post 4 with Irad Ortiz Jr., the bay aims to get into the mix.<\/p>\n
The Jim Dandy Stakes (G2)\u00a0promises to be a stellar preview of the Travers (G1), scheduled for August 23, where Sovereignty\u00a0will look to continue making history. For now, all paths lead to\u2026os conducen a \u00e9l.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kentucky Derby (G1)\u00a0and Belmont Stakes (G1)\u00a0winner will look to continue his upward trajectory toward the Travers Stakes,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-21552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}