Sovereignty breezes three furlongs in first work since before Breeders' Cup
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Horse of the Year Sovereignty made his much anticipated return to the work tab Sunday morning, breezing three furlongs in 37.40 seconds at trainer Bill Mott’s winter base at Payson Park. The work was the first for Sovereignty since he was taken out of consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Classic just four days before the race due to illness.
“He was kind of bucking a little bit yesterday, he’s usually pretty quiet going up to the track. It looked like he was going good, so I said let’s get started here,” Mott said when asked about the work.
Mott said Sovereignty would now begin a regular work schedule, although he has not set any target date or specific race for his 2026 debut. Sovereignty has not started since dominating the Grade 1 Travers last August at Saratoga.
“He might not work every seven days, it could be 10 days between works for now,” Mott explained. “He’s probably not going to run down here. I look at him more being ready in April some time. We’ll just let him come along and tell us when he’s ready to run. We have talked about races like the Alysheba at Churchill Downs or the Oaklawn Handicap as possibilities.”
After that, Mott said the plan would probably be to work backwards from the year’s major goal, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, when mapping out Sovereignty’s 2026 campaign.
“I hear the Jockey Club Gold Cup will be moved to opening day of the Belmont meet, putting it about five or six weeks before the Breeders’ Cup, so the timing of that would be very good,” Mott noted.
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