Sovereignty surges down the stretch to win the Belmont Stakes

New York Times

07-06-2025

Sovereignty roared down the stretch under jockey Junior Alvarado, passing favorite Journalism to decisively win the 157th Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.
The race, the last leg of the Triple Crown, lived up to its billing as a rematch between Sovereignty, who won the Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes winner Journalism, who went off as the 2-1 favorite Saturday. Trainer Bill Mott held Sovereignty out of last month's Preakness Stakes to prepare for the Belmont, which was held at Saratoga for the second straight year because of renovations being made at Belmont Park. That strategy paid off when his horse, which went off at 5-2 odds, finished the mile-and-a-quarter race in 2 minutes 0.69 seconds.
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Sovereignty and Journalism finished 1-2 at Churchill Downs, with both making late charges to the front of the field. Journalism was also the favorite in that race, but Sovereignty held on to become the first horse to finish first at the Kentucky Derby for trainer Bill Mott. Mott won the Kentucky Derby in 2019 with Country House, but that came after Maximum Security was disqualified despite crossing the finish line first.
Journalism authored a thrilling Preakness victory at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. After spending much of the race in the middle of the pack, Journalism, under jockey Umberto Rispoli, found a small gap between two other horses. Despite being bumped and nearly knocked off course, Journalism surged to the lead down the stretch, passing Gosger steps before the finish line.
Baeza, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby, opened with the third-best odds to win (4-1) and finished third.
This story will be updated.