Sovereignty worked at full speed at Keeneland and is ready for the big clash with Forever Young

The 2025 Horse of the Year covered 800 meters in 48s20 this Sunday, leaving Bill Mott fully satisfied. After overcoming a hoof abscess, the Godolphin champion prepares to contend the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), which could mark the end of his extraordinary campaign

By DIEGO H. MITAGSTEIN (Special Envoy for Turf Diario to Lexington, Kentucky)

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (From a Special Envoy).— The doubts are behind, and Sovereignty has returned to show his best face just when it matters most. On Sunday morning over the Keeneland main track, the Godolphin champion completed his final major breeze ahead of next Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), leaving an excellent impression and renewing expectations ahead of the eagerly awaited showdown with Japan's Forever Young (Real Steel).

The son of Into Mischief, voted 2025 Horse of the Year in the United States, covered 800 meters in 48s20, working in company with Thunder Roll (Hard Spun), his usual workmate.

The activity began shortly before 9 a.m. when Sovereignty stepped onto the track with Neil Poznansky, assistant to Bill Mott, in the irons. The Hall of Fame trainer followed every move mounted on his pony Rocky.

The champion remained behind Thunder Roll down the backstretch and through part of the turn. Upon entering the stretch, he accelerated with remarkable ease, caught his workmate in just three strides, and both completed the breeze together.

The impression was so favorable that Bill Mott made no attempt to hide his satisfaction: “It couldn't have gone better.We are very pleased with how the work went. He followed him down the backstretch and turn, and when they straightened up, in three strides he was alongside him. They finished together to the wire,” he explained.

But there was a detail that truly thrilled the trainer: “I asked Neil Poznansky how he felt him, and he told me it was the best work he had done in a very long time. Six days out from the race, I'm very happy,” assured Bill Mott, while Sovereignty was being bathed after the breeze in front of his barn on Rice Road.

From Concern to Relief

The current excitement stands in sharp contrast to the difficulties Sovereignty endured in recent weeks.

A hoof abscess forced a modification in the preparation of the 4-year-old colt, prompting Bill Mott to skip his participation in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), where a first clash with Forever Young was scheduled.

The injury caused considerable concern, particularly because the champion had already missed the 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic due to a fever detected just days before the event.

“It was something that kept me up at night,” Bill Mott admitted when recalling the hoof issue.

“When it appeared, I was really not sure what was going to happen. We had to wait, get him recovered, and get him back on track,” he explained.

The setback forced him to miss a scheduled breeze, and the initial workouts following the injury did not offer particularly encouraging times either.

One of them, conducted over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, ended with a time of 1m4s for 1,000 meters, a mark that raised questions about his fitness.

Bill Mott, however, downplayed the clock and explained that the surface was particularly dry and loose, assuring that on a normal track the time would have been close to 1m2s.

Now, following Sunday's performance at Keeneland, the feelings are completely different.

An Awaited Rematch

The showdown between Sovereignty and Forever Young is one of the main attractions of the $7 million Classic.

Both were scheduled to meet in 2025, but the fever suffered by the Godolphin representative thwarted that match.

A year later, the opportunity arises again, though this time with an added ingredient: the race could mark the final performance for Sovereignty, who is heading toward the conclusion of an exceptional campaign.

The son of Into Mischief ranks among the primary contenders and could even top the morning line when post positions are drawn this Monday at 5 p.m. local time at the Keeneland sales pavilion.

Prior to that moment, Bill Mott and Godolphin officials must still resolve another important matter.

Knightsbridge (Nyquist), also bred and owned by the powerful blue stable, keeps two options open: contesting the Classic or entering the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

His destination will finalize Godolphin's representation in the main dirt events. Meanwhile, Sovereignty has fulfilled the most crucial work of his preparation.

After an injury that cast doubt on his presence, workouts that sparked concern, and the memory of that 2025 disappointment, the champion once again gave the signals his team was hoping for.

Bill Mott has regained his peace of mind, Sovereignty responded on the track, and the clash with Forever Young is closer than ever. Keeneland prepares to host one of the most anticipated confrontations of the year, quite possibly in the farewell performance of one of the great American champions of recent times.