By Kevin Kerstein
Churchill Downs
Godolphin’s homebred Sovereignty outdueled favored Journalism through a protracted stretch duel by 1½ lengths to win the 151st running of the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) before a crowd of 147,406 on a rainy Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty completed the mile and a quarter in 2:02.31 over a sloppy track. It is the victory in the race for Mott who won with Country House in 2019.
For Godolphin, it was a weekend sweep of the Longines Kentucky Oaks and Derby having won the Oaks the day before with the undefeated Good Cheer.
Citizen Bull led the field under the finish line the first time with Neoequous, American Promise and Owen Almighty in closest pursuit. The top four maintained that order through fractions of :22.81, :46.23 and 1:10.78 while Journalism raced in midpack with Sovereignty behind him.
On the far turn, Journalism, under Umberto Rispoli, made the first move at the leaders with Sovereignty advancing right behind him, At the head of the stretch, Owen Almighty put his head in front briefly as Journalism came roaring past with Sovereignty advancing to his outside.
The two matched strides for about a sixteenth of a mile before Sovereignty surged ahead inside the eighth pole and drew clear.
The victory was worth $3.1 million and increased Sovereignty’s earnings to $3,672,800 with a record of 6-3-2-0.
A Kentucky-bred son of Into Mischief out of the Bernardini mare Crowned, Sovereignty notched his third graded stakes victory with the first coming last fall at Churchill Downs in the Street Sense (GIII) over a sloppy track.
Sovereignty returned $17.96, $7.50 and $5.58. Journalism returned $4.94 and $3.70 and finished a neck in front of a fast-closing Baeza, who paid $8.38 to show under Flavien Prat.
It was 2½ lengths back to Final Gambit who was followed in order by Owen Almighty, Burnham Square, Sandman, East Avenue, Chunk of Gold, Tiztastic, Coal Battle, Luxor Café, Neoeqous, Publisher, Citizen Bull, American Promise, Render Judgment, Flying Mohawk and Admire Daytona (JPN).
KENTUCKY DERBY QUOTES
Junior Alvarado (Jockey, Sovereignty, winner) – “He broke good. Probably the third or fourth jump after the break, the horse next to me cut in front of me. So I had to check a little bit. I just hoped he didn’t lose a shoe with the way the track is. Going to the first turn I tried to save ground in the first turn. When I turned to the backside, he was traveling beautifully. When we hit the five-eighths pole he said he was ready. I didn’t want to get too excited. When we turned for home, I got him in the clear and showed his stuff. I knew what he was capable of.”
Bill Mott (Trainer, Sovereignty, winner) – “I was lucky enough to do this with my family. We had quite the celebration. It’s such a great feeling. I’m so proud of the horse. I’m so proud of everyone who had anything to do with the horse to get him to this point. It takes a family and takes a community to get him ready. From the matings, to raising them as babies, to breaking them as 2-year-olds, we were so lucky to get him in the barn. It’s just a special feeling to have it happen for the team. For my regular rider Junior Alvarado, it made it so special. I’ve had quite a long relationship with the Godolphin team and the man behind the Godolphin operation Sheikh Mohammed – I’m just honored.”
Umberto Rispoli (Jockey, Journalism, second) – “I had a beautiful trip. I had the trip I wanted and saved ground into the first turn. On the backside, I had a lot of horses in front of me that didn’t appear to have a chance. So, I knew I had enough horse still and waited for the right time. Past the half-mile pole he started running for me. I was smoothly getting him into a rhythm. I wanted to turn for home with just a couple of horses ahead of me. That’s what happened but Sovereignty was the best today.”
Michael McCarthy (Trainer, Journalism, second) – “He broke well. But at the eighth pole the first time by he got shuffled by a horse just to our outside over toward the rail. But Umberto (Rispoli) got him in the clear and he was in a good spot all the way through the backside. He made a nice middle move, then on the turn for home he opened up but I saw the blue silks coming at us and I knew that was the one we were going to have to be concerned about. He ran on the best he could and he ran a very good race. But the winner ran a better race.”
Flavien Prat (Jockey, Baeza, third) – “From the outside, I thought the pace would be a bit stronger. I wasn’t able to get myself inside. I didn’t like the horse I was following in the first turn. Down the backside I got a better position to try and get a breather. He made a really good run.”
John Shirreffs (Trainer, Baeza, third) – “I could only see the race on TV so I really didn’t get to watch it the way I wanted to. (Flavien) Prat said afterward he didn’t want to take him inside but he had. When he got him out, he said he made a really good run. All things considered, the fact that he shipped for the time and ran on a wet track for the first time, we think he ran a fine, fine race. We are very proud of him.”