In the days leading up to the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, the team at usracing.com is publishing profiles of the 3-year-olds in the field.
He swept the Kentucky Derby (G1) and the Belmont Stakes (G1), then managed to look even more impressive in his next race. Sovereignty not only ran a career-best speed figure July 26 in Saratoga's Jim Dandy Stakes (G2), but he did it by changing his running style. Instead of coming from far back as he did during the Triple Crown, he tracked the pace from third before rallying seven wide in the upper stretch to score by a length.
It's a rare horse that can switch tactics and still excel, which is why Sovereignty is 2-5 on the morning line for Saturday's 1 1/4-mile Travers Stakes and looks invincible on paper.
“His record, it's in black and white what he's done,” trainer Bill Mott said. “People have watched. He is the horse to beat, but by the same token, it is not a done deal. That is why they run the race.”
The Travers is one of the few marquee stakes that Mott hasn't won. He's 0-for-13 in 12 Travers, with three second-place finishes -- Vision and Verse (1999), Hold Me Back (2009), and Tacitus (2019). After the Jim Dandy, the 72-year-old Hall of Famer said, “I'd like to win a Travers before I check out.”
He may never have a better opportunity.
At 2-5 or less, you'd be betting dollars to win dimes on Sovereignty, which is no fun. Isolate a horse to complete the exacta underneath him or key him on top in trifectas. You can also read about our top 3 bets for the 2025 Travers Stakes, where Sovereignty is among the picks.
Notes: Sovereignty will try to become the first horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Belmont, and Travers since Thunder Gulch did it in 1995 ... In 1998, Mott, at 45, became the youngest trainer ever inducted into the Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs ... His first major stakes victory came in the 1984 Blue Grass with Taylor's Special ... Sovereignty breezed 5 furlongs in 1:01.82 Saturday over Saratoga's training track.
