2019 Irish Derby winner Sovereign makes first U.S. start in Man o' War

ELMONT, N.Y. – Sovereign, the 2019 Irish Derby winner, will make his U.S. debut and first start for trainer Chad Brown in Saturday’s Grade 1, $700,000 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont Park.

Sovereign, a son of Galileo, went just 2 for 13 for trainer Aidan O’Brien. In 2019, he was a front-running 33-1 upset winner of the Irish Derby, beating Anthony Van Dyck. In 2020, Sovereign finished second to the great mare Enable in the three-horse King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Sovereign has not started since he was third, beaten a neck, in the Bahrain International Trophy on Nov. 20 at Bahrain.

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He does show a series of solid works during the winter at Payson Park and breezed five furlongs in 1:02.40 on Sunday at Belmont.

“He came in in fantastic shape from Aidan,” Brown said. “We acclimated him a bit. He’s always worked well. We look forward to getting him going.”

The Man o’ War will be the 4-year-old debut of Gufo, who won the Grade 1 Belmont Derby going 1 1/4 miles here last October before finishing his 3-year-old campaign with a neck defeat to Domestic Spending in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar.

Also entered in the Man o’ War were Channel Cat, Field Pass, Shamrocket, So High, and Ziyad.