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Splendid isolation: Sovereignty (Junior Alvarado) is well clear in the Travers Stakes. Photo: NYRA \/ Valerie Wilson (Coglianese)<\/p>\nSplendid isolation: Sovereignty (Junior Alvarado) is well clear in the Travers Stakes. Photo: NYRA \/ Valerie Wilson (Coglianese)<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t get much closer than this. On a week chock-full of top-grade action, Sovereignty\u2019s bravura performance in the Travers Stakes was rewarded with a big 138pt boost on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary\u2019s exclusive Global Rankings.<\/p>\n
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The Godolphin duly moves up the charts \u2013 specifically gaining a place to stand at #2 in this week\u2019s rankings. That is a single point \u2013 one single, solitary point \u2013 behind world leader Ka Ying Rising, with the current state of play 2154pt versus 2153pt.<\/p>\n
Although the Hong Kong star, who now has 18 weeks at the top, is due back in action on September 7 for his prep race ahead of the Everest in Australia, his return may not come in time to fend off the Kentucky Derby hero, who has the recency bias in his favour over the next couple of weeks. We shall see.<\/p>\n
Either way, Sovereignty produced a standout performance at Saratoga on Saturday [Aug 23] to plug a significant hole on trainer Bill Mott\u2019s resum\u00e9 with a dazzling ten-length victory in the $1.25m Travers Stakes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve been waiting on,\u201d said Mott, a dual Kentucky Derby-winning trainer. \u201cI had two or three races on my bucket list and one was the Met Mile which we got that 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winning rider Junior Alvarado was full of praise for Sovereignty \u2013 and his trainer. \u201cThis is the horse of a lifetime,\u201d said the jockey. \u201cAll my big wins come from him. I can\u2019t give thanks enough to the Godolphin people and to Billy Mott for keeping their trust in me and letting me ride these beautiful horses.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was amazing today. He showed something maybe a little different today,\u201d Alvarado said. \u201cWe got kind of boxed in a little bit between horses. I just\u00a0didn\u2019t want to go wide in the first turn. He handles everything I try with him. He just does it so professionally with no hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mott added: \u201cOur horse just proved how good he was when he pulled away in the last eighth of a mile. He\u2019s pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n
All roads now lead to the Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic for Sovereignty, who may go to Del Mar without another run.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Among other points of Stateside interest last weekend were another G1 success for Thorpedo Anna (#7 from #8, +31pt) in the $500,000 Personal Ensign, although the reigning Horse of the Year had to overcome a fierce bid from Dorth Vader in a dramatic stretch duel. Only a nose separated the pair at the wire.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn’t as easy as we’d want it to be, but she is a champion,\u201d said adoring trainer Kenny McPeek. \u201cThat is why she wins.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Also on the Travers Stakes card, sprint star Book\u2019em Danno (#13 from #12, +40pt) held off late-running Scotland to claim the G1 Forego, while progressive three-year-old Patch Adams (#55 from #244, +252pt) got the better of a tight verdict in the H Allen Jerkens Memorial.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the Atlantic, Sovereignty\u2019s owners Godolphin also enjoyed the most eyecatching victory of York\u2019s prestigious four-day Ebor meeting as Ombudsman (#9 from #42, +266pt) claimed the Juddmonthe International in fine style.<\/p>\n
In truth, this was a weird race as the winner\u2019s French-trained pacemaker Birr Castle established a 20-length lead and led into the final furlong until Ombudsman cruised past on the way to a 3\u00bd-length success to reverse Eclipse Stakes form with Delacroix.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn’t want to be the one who chased our pacemaker too early but when we came into the straight I had to chase him,” said winning jockey William Buick. \u201cWhen he passed Birr Castle he actually quickened again. It was a monster performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Though this was only the second G1 success of his career, Ombudsman has always been highly regarded and will be expected to climb higher in the rankings in due course.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, he\u2019s a lovely horse, a grand horse, he\u2019s picked up well and won it well and won it emphatically,\u201d said co-trainer John Gosden. \u201cThe Eclipse was a muddling affair, as we said, and we\u2019ll leave it at that. It was a great win but I thought for a moment that Andr\u00e9 (Fabre) was going to be the lucky man.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never raced him at two and he came along gradually. He\u2019s getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among other notable performances at York came the latest G1 win for dual Oaks winner Minnie Hauk (#14 from #25, +140pt) \u2026 or make that four-time Oaks winner as this latest success came in the Yorkshire Oaks, and the Ballydoyle filly had already won the Cheshire Oaks, although that contest holds only Listed status.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Benefiting from a lack of star power in the staying division, hardy annual Trawlerman\u00a0(#19 from #29, +76pt) added to his Ascot laurels in the G2 Lonsdale Cup.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s star mare Via Sistina re-enters the rankings at #4 after landing her tenth G1 win on her return to action in the Winx Stakes at Randwick, a race she also won in 2024 at the beginning of a campaign in which she won seven races at the highest level.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
And just as it was 12 months previously, when Via Sistina recorded a narrow victory, this wasn\u2019t plain sailing as the seven-year-old was all out to hold Chris Waller-trained stablemate Aeliana. Hold on she did, however, and this was really only a prep race (on heavy ground over an inadequate seven furlongs) at the start of a spring campaign focussed on retaining her Cox Plate title.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe deeper in her prep she goes, the better she will be,\u201d suggested jockey James McDonald, who admitted to having had a \u201chell of a fright\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses \/<\/a>\u00a0jockeys \/<\/a>\u00a0trainers \/<\/a>\u00a0sires<\/a><\/p>\n