SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though he wasn’t on his back Saturday morning, Junior Alvarado may have had the best seat in the house to judge Sovereignty’s final workout before his engagement in next Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes.  Alvarado was aboard Fort Nelson, a recent maiden winner, who was Sovereignty’s workmate Saturday morning. Sovereignty, ridden by regular exercise rider Neil Poznansky, started about two lengths in front of Fort Nelson and Alvarado, the pair having broken off at the five-furlong pole on the Oklahoma training track.  After going three furlongs in 36.56 seconds, Alvarado crept Fort Nelson a little closer to Sovereignty, who came a few paths wide in the lane. Poznansky, after looking back at his workmate, asked Sovereignty to run a little bit and he responded, finishing two lengths in front and completing the five-furlong move in 1:00.70. Sovereignty galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.40.  “I thought I might put up a little bit of a challenge today, but nah,” Alvarado said. “I tried, but failed.”  :: Bet Smarter at Saratoga. Unlock DRF data and expert analysis all meet long. Save with a Saratoga Handicapping Package from DRF.  Fortunately, Alvarado gets to sit back atop Sovereignty next week in the Travers. Saturday’s work was Sovereignty’s second and final move in between his victory in the Jim Dandy on July 26 and next week where he figures a prohibitive favorite against just four rivals.  “He looks very good, he looks strong, just looking forward to next week and the Travers,” Alvarado said.  Bill Mott, Sovereignty’s trainer, said he was happy enough with Saturday’s work and now just hopes the next few days go as smoothly as things have pretty much gone since the spring.  “There’s a month in between races, right, so we don’t want to go into it thinking we haven’t done enough, so we had another horse with him to keep him honest,” Mott said of the work. “He’s doing fine for me. I’m happy with what I saw today, I’ve been happy with what we’ve seen this past week; got another week to go.”  Sovereignty has been stabled in Saratoga since about five days after he won the Kentucky Derby on May 3. Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes by three lengths here on June 7 and the Jim Dandy by one length on July 26.  He is expected to face only four rivals next Saturday, none of whom he has previously run against. Magnitude, winner of the Grade 2 Risen Star in February and, after sidelined by injury, the Iowa Derby in July, looks like the main rival.  Strategic Focus, third in the Curlin Stakes, Bracket Buster, fourth in the Haskell, and McAfee, second in the West Virginia Derby, are the others expected when entries close and post positions are assigned Sunday. “I’m not happy, flattered, or anything that it’s a smaller field,” said Mott, who will be looking for his first Travers victory with his 14th runner in the race. “They don’t give anything away. There’s somebody in there that’s going to be running.”  On Saturday, Strategic Focus worked five furlongs over Saratoga’s main track in 1:01.55 in company with the 4-year-old maiden Duration. Strategic Focus pulled away from his workmate on the gallop-out.  Strategic Focus, a son of Gun Runner, is only 1 for 3 having been disqualified from an allowance win here in June before finishing third in the Curlin Stakes on July 24. Trainer Chad Brown has added blinkers to Strategic Focus in his recent works and plans to run him that equipment in the Travers.  “This morning is the best I’ve ever seen the horse work by far,” Brown said. “And he’s a well-bred horse, so he’s got a lot of things going for him, but he’s going to have to really get his act together mentally and improve a bit to make an impact in the race.”  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.