Mott says Sovereignty looks good day after runner-up finish in Oaklawn Handicap
?q=100)
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Horse of the Year Sovereignty has emerged from his runner-up finish in the fastest running of the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap in three decades in good order, according to his trainer, Bill Mott.
“He looked good,” Mott said Sunday. “We’re happy with him.”
The Saturday start was Sovereignty’s first at 4. He set the pace in the 1 1/8-mile race before finishing two lengths behind winner White Abarrio. The winner covered the distance on a fast track that took some morning rain in 1:47.49.
White Abarrio earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 111, for the second-highest Beyer of the year, behind the 112 the Mott-trained Knightsbridge earned winning the Gulfstream Park Mile in February. Knightsbridge races for Godolphin, who bred and owns Sovereignty.
Sovereignty’s start in the Oaklawn Handicap was his first since winning the Travers in August at Saratoga. A fever forced him to miss his planned season finale, the Breeders’ Cup Classic last November. Sovereignty shipped into Oaklawn from Payson Park in Florida, and will now ship to Kentucky, Mott said.
“He’s going to go to Churchill for a couple weeks,” he said, “and then he’ll wind up going to Saratoga and he’ll probably train at Saratoga up to the Stephen Foster.”
The Grade 1, $1 million Stephen Foster is a Breeders’ Cup Classic challenge race, and will be run over 1 1/8 miles on June 27 at Churchill. Last year, Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby at Churchill over runner-up Journalism, who on Saturday was third in the Oaklawn Handicap in his first start at 4.
Sovereignty broke on top in the Oaklawn Handicap and, after White Abarrio took the field into the first turn, went on to set the pace, pushed along by Journalism. Sovereignty and Journalism battled on the final turn and into the stretch, and in the final sixteenth were caught by White Abarrio, who quickened to the wire.
Sovereignty and Journalism ran on well through the stretch. Sovereignty was the 123-pound highweight, while White Abarrio was assigned 121 pounds and Journalism was 119. Journalism finished third, 1 1/4 lengths behind Sovereignty.
“It was a good race,” Mott said. “You know, we were maybe a little bit surprised to be on the lead, but that’s how it worked out leaving the gate. But I thought he ran a game race. He put Journalism away and I think the two of those kind of set it up for the winner.
“Look, we would have loved to have won, but I think the fact that we hadn’t been out in eight months, plus just the way the race set up, I think it might have worked against us a little bit yesterday. But he ran well.”
Sovereignty, who also won last year’s Belmont Stakes, is a son of Into Mischief. In addition to his Horse of the Year title, he was the champion 3-year-old male of 2025.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.