Sovereignty aims for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, seeking to extend his reign
- Turf Diario
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Godolphin colt faces just four rivals in the other major summer classic for 3-year-olds in the United States
SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (Special for Turf Diario).- Sovereignty, Godolphin’s superstar and two-time G1 winner, is set to take center stage this Saturday in the 156th running of the Travers Stakes (G1), Saratoga’s marquee event and one of the most anticipated dates on the U.S. three-year-old calendar. With $1,250,000 in purses and 1¼ miles (2000 meters) on tap, the Into Mischief colt aims to add another milestone to his sensational campaign and, in the process, give legendary trainer Bill Mott his first victory in the so-called “Mid-Summer Derby.”
The colt comes in riding a three-race win streak at the highest level. He captured the Kentucky Derby (G1) in May, followed by a decisive triumph in the Belmont Stakes (G1) in June, and most recently took the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) in a performance that demanded more than usual, edging Baeza (McKinzie) by a length in a hard-fought contest. In the 1¼-mile Derby and Belmont, Sovereignty had defeated the brave Journalism (Curlin) by 1½ and three lengths, respectively, but the narrow margin in his latest start signals that, even as the horse to beat, the task will not be simple.
“His campaign speaks for itself; he’s the one to beat, but nothing is certain until we cross the finish line,” said Mott, who trusts the hands of his regular jockey, Venezuelan Junior Alvarado. “He knows him well, knows he has a big kick, and we leave the strategy in his hands. In a short field, anything can happen if someone takes the lead,” added the Hall of Fame conditioner, who has started 13 horses in the Travers without yet claiming victory.
The biggest threat appears to be Magnitude, a Not This Time colt trained by Steve Asmussen and owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, the same connections that celebrated with Epicenter (Not This Time) in 2022. Magnitude comes off two dominant, wire-to-wire victories in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and the Iowa Derby (L), following an ankle injury that kept him out of the Triple Crown. With Ben Curtis in the irons, he is expected to pressure from the start. “We’ll be facing a potential champion, but we think we’re peaking at the right time,” said Scott Blasi, Asmussen’s assistant.
In the compact field of five, also entered are Strategic Focus (Chad Brown), coming off a third-place finish in the Curlin Stakes (L) and debuting blinkers in search of a step forward; McAfee (Cloud Computing), a consistent G3 performer and half-brother to champion Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna); and Bracket Buster (Vekoma), who energized the Haskell Stakes and could spring a surprise.
For Sovereignty, the mission is monumental: a victory would place him in an elite club of champions who have swept the second-half Triple—Kentucky Derby, Belmont, Travers—a feat achieved by only three horses in nearly a century: Twenty Grand (St Germans, 1931), Shut Out (Equipoise, 1942), and Thunder Gulch (Gulch, 1995). Only Whirlaway (Blenheim) also added the Preakness in 1941, completing a historic four-race sweep.
With a record of 8-5-2-0, earnings exceeding $5.1 million, and prior wins in the Fountain of Youth (G2) and Street Sense Stakes (G3), Sovereignty is Godolphin’s crown jewel, which knows Travers glory with Alpha (Bernardini, 2012, dead-heat with Golden Ticket) and Essential Quality (Tapit, 2021). Yet Mott repeats: Saratoga is Saratoga, and nothing is guaranteed.
Saturday promises to be as spectacular as it is unforgettable, featuring 14 races including five G1 events and three automatic Berths to the Breeders’ Cup. But all eyes will be on Race 13, scheduled for 6:14 p.m. ET, when Sovereignty, Magnitude, and company break from the gate in pursuit of a new golden chapter in American racing.
“There may be easier paths, but we didn’t come looking for them,” Mott summarized. “This is the Travers, and to win it, you have to be the best. Saturday will tell us if we are.”
