SOVEREIGNTY WINS TRAVERS STAKES

By Greg Evans

In expected fashion, Sovereignty, jockeyed by Junior Alvarado, dominated in the last furlong of the Travers Stakes, winning by 10 lengths and claiming the $1.2 million prize.

The race kicking off at exactly 6:18 and 18 seconds in the afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, in Saratoga Springs, New York, on a golden afternoon, was a spectacle in the making.

Magnitude and Bracket Buster initially shot out into the lead with Sovereignty sitting in third. Around 1/4 mile, Sovereignty found himself watching from the rear, briefly holding dead last, but Bill Mott and Godolphin were not yet even sweating. They both have come to recognize that Sovereignty is a lot like Scottie Scheffler, on the PGA, a second-half player. The winning is done on the final stretch.

With less than 1/2 mile to go, Sovereignty moved into third, Magnitude still in first and Bracket Buster in second. Bracket Buster moved ahead of Magnitude and all of a sudden Sovereignty turned on those jet engines and flew! In the last furlong Sovereignty pulls away and becomes the first winner of the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stales, and Travers Stakes since Thunder Gulch did it in 1995.

If you live under a rock and don’t know the significance of this victory, Sovereignty already won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes earlier this year. He did not compete in the Preakness Stakes (Won by Journalism) for a chance at the Triple Crown (2025 series concluded without a winner). The Travers win makes him only the fifth horse to win the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes.

It begs the question, had he competed in Pimlico, would he have win that too? Who knows? Doesn’t matter now though, it’s in the past. Records are written and broken in the present.