SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott’s already storied career gained another milestone on Saturday at Saratoga as Sovereignty, the dual Classic winner, powered to a decisive 10-length victory in the $1.25 million DraftKings Travers (G1). The triumph marked Mott’s long-awaited first Travers win.
“It’s something I’ve been waiting on,” said Mott, a dual Kentucky Derby-winning trainer. “I 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. 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.”
Ridden by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty stormed from off the pace in the 1 1/4-mile “Mid-Summer Derby,” giving owner and breeder Godolphin their third Travers victory following Alpha (2012, dead heat) and Essential Quality (2021). The win also completed a personal milestone for Alvarado, who earlier this year captured both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes aboard the colt. Sovereignty became the first horse since Thunder Gulch in 1995 to win the Derby, Belmont, and Travers in the same season.
“This is the horse of a lifetime,” said Alvarado, who was also the regular rider of Godolphin’s 2023 Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish. “All my big wins come from him. I can’t give thanks enough to the Godolphin people and to Billy Mott for keeping their trust in me and letting me ride these beautiful horses.”
How the Race Unfolded
Breaking from post 4 as the 1-4 favorite, Sovereignty settled near the rear while Magnitude, the expected front-runner, sped to the lead with Bracket Buster pressing close. McAfee, after a sluggish start, chased wide while Strategic Focus tracked inside. The early fractions of 23.47, 47.43, and 1:11.23 set the stage for Sovereignty’s explosive run.
Alvarado patiently guided the son of Into Mischief down the backstretch before unleashing him on the far turn. Sovereignty cruised up to the leaders without heavy urging, swept past rivals three-wide, and surged into command entering the stretch. Once Alvarado asked, the colt responded with a devastating burst, pulling clear under wraps to stop the clock in 2:00.84.
Bracket Buster ran courageously in second, 10 3/4 lengths clear of Magnitude. McAfee and Strategic Focus rounded out the order.
“He was amazing today. He showed something maybe a little different today,” Alvarado said. “We got kind of boxed in a little bit between horses. I just didn’t want to go wide in the first turn. He handles everything I try with him. He just does it so professionally with no hesitation.”
Praise for Rivals, Glory for Sovereignty
Mott praised both his rider and the runner-up.
“It’s never over ’til it’s over, and watching the race unfold, Vicki Oliver’s horse, Bracket Buster, held on very well until the eighth pole,” Mott said. “He ran a courageous race. I commend her for giving it a shot and running in here. Her horse ran great. Our horse just proved how good he was when he pulled away in the last eighth of a mile. He’s pretty special.”
Sovereignty’s sparkling campaign includes his two Classic victories over Grade 1 Preakness and NYRA Bets Haskell-winner Journalism when taking the Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2-lengths with a rally from 16th-of-19, and the Belmont Stakes by three lengths in June over course and distance. He continued his run of good form with a wide-running victory in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun on July 26 here, making him the 14th horse to notch a Jim Dandy/Travers double. He also won Gulfstream Park’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in March when making his seasonal debut.
Godolphin Eyes the Breeders’ Cup Classic
Michael Banahan, bloodstock director for Godolphin USA, spoke of Mott’s impeccable talents as Sovereignty joins Cody’s Wish as top Godolphin homebreds trained by Mott and piloted by Alvarado.
“He’s step-by-step developed the way that we’d hoped that he would,” he said of Sovereignty. “He’s had a tremendous year since the Fountain of Youth. Step-by-step through there. We are so grateful to see him develop how he did, and Bill has done an awesome job. Getting him to peak Derby Day, Belmont Day, and back here again today. That takes an awful lot of skill, and we know he’s done it many, many times in the past, but it is still awesome to see and pull off these type of wins. Junior has given the horse another great ride and I think he fits him like a glove, we know he has an awful lot of talent.”
Banahan added that Sovereignty is likely to set his sights on his first meeting with elders in this year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 1 at Del Mar.
“I would think that’s the next logical step,” Banahan concluded. “We always felt after the Derby, the Travers was the next goal that we had. The Belmont as well, but the Travers was the main mid-summer goal. Achieving what he has done today, the logical next spot to turn up is Del Mar in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, as long as the horse is doing well and training as well as Bill wants him to be, I think that’s where he’ll end up next.”
The winning earnings of $687,500 brought Sovereignty’s bankroll to more than $5.8 million, and he improved his record to 9-6-2-0 while returning $2.60 on a $2 win ticket.
Runner-Up Efforts
BBN Racing’s Bracket Buster put forth a career-best effort, and entered from a fourth-place finish in the NYRA Bets Haskell on July 19 at Monmouth Park. The son of Vekoma tallied his second graded placing after finishing second to Gosger in the Grade 3 Lexington in April at Keeneland.
“I’m really proud of him. He ran a big, big race,” Oliver said. “I think it’s hard to say you have a shot against that horse, but turning for home I thought we were going to run tough. We just got beat by a better horse. It’s good money for second and he showed that he belongs.”
The Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen-trained Magnitude picked up his first Grade 1 placing on the heels of an open-lengths romp in Prairie Meadows’ Listed Iowa Derby on July 5. Jockey Ben Curtis said the son of Not This Time tried his best.
“The horse ran well. He finished third. He ran a decent race,” Curtis said.
