In the $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday, Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, whose connections skipped the Preakness to prepare for this weekend, stalked a hard early pace before charging to a commanding lead in the final furlong. The first horse to win two classics since Justify finished the Triple Crown in 2018 was Sovereignty (5-2), a Godolphin homebred colt sired by Into Mischief, trained by Bill Mott, and ridden by Júnior Alvarado. Since then, there have been 21 winners, the longest run without a recurrence since 1919. Journalism (2-1), the post-time favorite and Preakness winner, came back from third place to contest in the final stretch but ended up finishing in second place, around three lengths behind Sovereignty.
Despite their early vigor, Baeza (7-2) ended up finishing third. Rodríguez (7-1), the Grade 2 Wood Memorial winner who set the early pace, finished fourth out of eight colts aged three. Baeza paid $2.60, Journalism $3.20 and $2.30, and Sovereignty $7.00, $3.20, and $2.30. Five weeks earlier, they finished the Derby in the identical order. Following early sectors of 23.42, 47.60, 1:12.20, and 1:36.70, the winning time was 2:00.69. In time for the Belmont, the track received a high rating. When the card started nine hours ago, it was sloppy and sealed. It wasn’t until the drying out started early Saturday afternoon that the rain that ruined the Friday card stopped. The event, which typically lasts 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park, is being rebuilt.
The Belmont Stakes was held upstate for the second time in a row. Last year, Dornoch prevailed.
