Leading Three-Year-Old Picture Becomes Clear

This year's Belmont Stakes was run on an off-track at the historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Saratoga is serving as a surrogate track while construction on the new Belmont Race Course Facility is underway. It's noteworthy that all three legs of this year's Triple Crown of U.S. horseracing were run on off-tracks. One will never know if the track conditions influence the outcomes of each race. What is known is that Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes, establishing himself as the best 3-year-old colt or gelding in the world.

Under jockey Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty surged to the front in mid-stretch to run past race favorite Journalism to claim the Belmont Stakes on a track official labeled as "good." It was a mirror image of the Kentucky Derby where Journalism was again the favorite and again took the lead in the stretch, only to see Sovereignty surge pass for a 1 and 1/2 length win. The margin in the Belmont was 3 and 1/2 lengths.

The Belmont was billed as a rematch between these two brilliant colts. While the trainer Bill Mott and ownership of Sovereignty decided to pass on the Preakness Stakes and a chance for the Triple Crown, Mike McCarthy and ownership of Journalism went on to claim the Preakness in dramatic fashion.

During the race at the top of the stretch, Journalism, under jockey Umberto Rispoli, found himself lodged between two opponents at a key juncture of the race. With nowhere else to go, Rispoli went straight forward, bulled his way through his two opponents, and got clear. Unfortunately, race leader Gosger had a 5-length headstart to the finish line. Not to be denied, Journalism kicked it into high gear and surged for a dramatic 1-length victory. The visual spectacle likely accounted for Jornalism's favoritism in the Belmont despite losing to Sovereignty in the Derby. Note: Journalism was favored at 2-1 in the Belmont with Sovereignty finishing at 5-2.

In the Belmont, the results were the same down to Baeza finishing third in both the Derby and Belmont. What was clear after the finish was that Sovereignty was indeed the best 3-year-old in America, if not the world.

While Journalism had no excuses during the race, much was made of the fact that the clt competed in all three jewels of the Triple Crown while Sovereignty's connections decided a fresh horse for the Belmont would be in the colt's best interest. Did passing on the Preakness make a difference? It's possible but Journalism still ran very well in the Belmont despite losing.

With lots of good racing remaining on the 2025 calendar, the connections of both colts will start making plans with winning the November Breeders Cup Classic as the likely goal. For now, Sovereignty will remain at Saratoga for a possible date in the Jim Dandy Stakes in late July. Journalism will head back to California (Del Mar) while his connections take a hard look at options like the Haskell Invitational (Monmouth) of the Pennsylvania Derby (Parx). Perhaps, the racing world will see a rematch between these two colts in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga later this summer.