Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course, taking the third jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown by passing Journalism down the stretch at Saratoga Springs, New York, in a finish that mirrored the Kentucky Derby.
The one-and-a-quarter-mile race was set up as a rematch to the Run for the Roses on 3 May after Sovereignty was better than Journalism down the stretch at Churchill Downs. Sovereignty skipped the Preakness two weeks later while Journalism won.
Journalism, the 2-1 betting favorite for the Belmont, broke first down the stretch on a muddy track, but Sovereignty, with odds of 5-2, charged into the lead to become the first horse to win the Derby and Belmont while intentionally skipping the Preakness.
Baeza finished in third in the Preakness to match the trifecta from the Kentucky Derby.
Sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, completed the race in 2:00.69. The colt sired by Into Mischief paid $7.00 on a $2 bet to win, $3.20 to place and $2.30 to show. Journalism paid $3.20 and $2.30, and Baeza paid $2.60.
Saturday’s win was the second for Mott in the Belmont, who won with Drosselmeyer in 2010.