Sovereignty goes into loaded Whitney Stakes with something to prove
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It might be a silly premise to suggest that a Horse of the Year and three-time Grade 1 winner has something to prove. But Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott didn’t disagree with the idea when asked if Sovereignty has something to prove in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.
“After two defeats? Yes,” Mott said Sunday. “He’s got to prove, like we all do every day, you got to perform.”
Sovereignty, who in 2025 won the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers en route to Horse of the Year, will be one of many marquee horses set to perform in Saturday’s Whitney, which, on paper, looks like the race of the year.
In addition to Sovereignty, the field, drawn Sunday, includes the current leading older male horse Magnitude, winner of this year’s Group 1 Dubai World Cup and Grade 1 Stephen Foster; 2023 Whitney winner and BC Classic winner White Abarrio; 2025 champion 3-year-old filly Nitrogen; Grade 1 winners Baeza and Antiquarian; and the 2025 Louisiana Derby winner Tiztastic. Forged Steel, winner of the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita, was entered but is most likely to run in the Iselin Stakes on Aug. 15 at Monmouth Park, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said.
Sovereignty completed preparations for the Whitney by working a half-mile in 49.97 seconds on Sunday. Under assistant trainer Neil Poznansky, Sovereignty started about two lengths in front of Thunder Roll, went his opening quarter in 25.26, got his final quarter in 24.71, and the pair finished on even terms.
“I’m happy with the way he’s been,” Mott said. “He’s eating well, he’s moving well. Neil worked him this morning, he was much in hand and he was traveling well and thought he felt good underneath him. We know he’s not one of those ‘wow you’ kind of work horses.”
When Sovereignty finished second to Whtie Abarrio in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 18, it was his first start in eight months, or since he won the Travers by 10 lengths. In the Grade 1 Stephen Foster, where he finished third, 5 1/4 lengths behind Magnitude, the race was run over a sloppy Churchill Downs track.
“The first one I got to give him the benefit of the doubt there,” Mott said. “He ran a good race, he was off eight months, we had some illness, and we missed time. We were slow getting him going, we didn’t have a tremendous amount of works in him to run in a race like that.”
It was the Stephen Foster where Sovereignty ran arguably the worst race of his 11-race career. He never looked comfortable or threatened to be a factor.
“The last one was the only race he’s ever had that was a little questionable, like what the hell happened?” Mott said. “The only thing I can point to is the off track. A lot of people will say, well he won on the off track before. It was sloppy, but this was kind of different.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Baeza, who Mott will run for the third time after taking over the colt’s training following the death of trainer John Shirreffs earlier this year. Baeza, when third in the Grade 2 Alysheba and second in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster, was hampered by bad starts both times.
It was here last summer that Baeza finished just one length behind Sovereignty in the Jim Dandy. The Whitney, like the Jim Dandy, is run at 1 1/8 miles. Sovereignty is a good horse at 1 1/8 miles, but he is at his best at 1 1/4 miles.
On Sunday, Baeza also completed his Whitney preparations, working a half-mile in 48.94 over the Oklahoma training track, making up about 1 1/2 lengths on his pacesetting workmate Veblen.
“Very good,” Mott said. “Neil worked him and said he hoped he hadn’t gone too slow because he said he had a lot of horse.”
The pace of the Whitney may have changed when the connections of Suburban Stakes winner Phileas Fogg announced Saturday afternoon that their speed horse would skip the Whitney and point to the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 18 at Belmont Park.
Provided Forged Steel does scratch, the speed is drawn on the inside, with Magnitude breaking from the rail and Nitrogen drawn in post 2. Outside of them, in order, are Antiquarian, Forged Steel, White Abarrio, Sovereignty, Tiztastic, and Baeza.
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