Sovereignty Outduels Journalism to Win Grade Kentucky Derby

May 03, 2025 Kevin Kerstein

Godolphin’s homebred Sovereignty outdueled favored Journalism through a protracted stretch duel by 1 ½ lengths to win the 151st running of the $5 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) before a crowd of 147,406 on a rainy Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty completed the mile and a quarter in 2:02.31 over a sloppy track. It is the victory in the race for Mott who won with Country House in 2019.

For Godolphin, it was a weekend sweep of the Longines Kentucky Oaks and Derby having won the Oaks the day before with the undefeated Good Cheer.

Citizen Bull led the field under the finish line the first time with Neoequous, American Promise and Owen Almighty in closest pursuit. The top four maintained that order through fractions of :22.81, :46.23 and 1:10.78 while Journalism raced in midpack with Sovereignty behind him.

On the far turn, Journalism, under Umberto Rispoli, made the first move at the leaders with Sovereignty advancing right behind him, At the head of the stretch, Owen Almighty put his head in front briefly as Journalism came roaring past with Sovereignty advancing to his outside.

The two matched strides for about a sixteenth of a mile before Sovereignty surged ahead inside the eighth pole and drew clear.

The victory was worth $3.1 million and increased Sovereignty’s earnings to $3,672,800 with a record of 6-3-2-0.

A Kentucky-bred son of Into Mischief out of the Bernardini mare Crowned, Sovereignty notched his third graded stakes victory with the first coming last fall at Churchill Downs in the Street Sense (GIII) over a sloppy track.

Sovereignty returned $17.96, $7.50 and $5.58. Journalism returned $4.94 and $3.70 and finished a neck in front of a fast-closing Baeza, who paid $8.38 to show under Flavien Prat.

It was 2 ½ lengths back to Final Gambit who was followed in order by Owen Almighty, Burnham Square, Sandman, East Avenue, Chunk of Gold, Tiztastic, Coal Battle, Luxor Café, Neoeqous, Publisher, Citizen Bull, American Promise, Render Judgment, Flying Mohawk and Admire Daytona (JPN).

KENTUCKY DERBY QUOTES

Junior Alvarado (Jockey, Sovereignty, winner) – “He broke good. Probably the third or fourth jump after the break, the horse next to me cut in front of me. So I had to check a little bit. I just hoped he didn’t lose a shoe with the way the track is. Going to the first turn I tried to save ground in the first turn. When I turned to the backside, he was traveling beautifully. When we hit the five-eighths pole he said he was ready. I didn’t want to get too excited. When we turned for home, I got him in the clear and showed his stuff. I knew what he was capable of.”

Bill Mott (Trainer, Sovereignty, winner) – “I was lucky enough to do this with my family. We had quite the celebration. It’s such a great feeling. I’m so proud of the horse. I’m so proud of everyone who had anything to do with the horse to get him to this point. It takes a family and takes a community to get him ready. From the matings, to raising them as babies, to breaking them as 2-year-olds, we were so lucky to get him in the barn. It’s just a special feeling to have it happen for the team. For my regular rider Junior Alvarado, it made it so special. I’ve had quite a long relationship with the Godolphin team and the man behind the Godolphin operation Sheikh Mohammed – I’m just honored.”

Umberto Rispoli (Jockey, Journalism, second) – “I had a beautiful trip. I had the trip I wanted and saved ground into the first turn. On the backside, I had a lot of horses in front of me that didn’t appear to have a chance. So, I knew I had enough horse still and waited for the right time. Past the half-mile pole he started running for me. I was smoothly getting him into a rhythm. I wanted to turn for home with just a couple of horses ahead of me. That’s what happened but Sovereignty was the best today.”

Michael McCarthy (Trainer, Journalism, second) – “He broke well. But at the eighth pole the first time by he got shuffled by a horse just to our outside over toward the rail. But Umberto (Rispoli) got him in the clear and he was in a good spot all the way through the backside. He made a nice middle move, then on the turn for home he opened up but I saw the blue silks coming at us and I knew that was the one we were going to have to be concerned about. He ran on the best he could and he ran a very good race. But the winner ran a better race.”

Flavien Prat (Jockey, Baeza, third) – “From the outside, I thought the pace would be a bit stronger. I wasn’t able to get myself inside. I didn’t like the horse I was following in the first turn. Down the backside I got a better position to try and get a breather. He made a really good run.”

John Shirreffs (Trainer, Baeza, third) – “I could only see the race on TV so I really didn’t get to watch it the way I wanted to. (Flavien) Prat said afterward he didn’t want to take him inside but he had. When he got him out, he said he made a really good run. All things considered, the fact that he shipped for the time and ran on a wet track for the first time, we think he ran a fine, fine race. We are very proud of him.”

Luan Machado (Jockey, Final Gambit, fourth) – “He ran amazing. He ran fourth against the best horses in the country. So that was amazing. He took a while to get over the first part but when we got to the backside, he started getting over the track and moving forward. He was amazing. There was just too much for him to do from that far behind. I was very happy with the way he performed. He's going to be an amazing horse, I believe.”

Brad Cox (Trainer, Final Gambit, fourth) – “I’m really proud of the effort. With this big of a field, it’s really hard to close from last but that’s his style. This gives us confidence to try a fast dirt surface in the future.”

Javier Castellano (Jockey, Owen Almighty, fifth) – “I had a great trip. It was what I was looking for today. I tried to keep track of the speed. I really liked the way the race unfolded. Turning for home, he got tired a little bit in the end but he ran such a great race. He did really well and I’m really proud of the horse.”

Brian Lynch (Trainer, Owen Almighty, fifth) – “It was a very exciting race. For a horse that was questionable to get the mile and a quarter, he did very very well. He actually made the lead inside the quarter pole and then held on for fifth. We’re delighted with his effort:”

Brian Hernandez Jr. (Jockey, Burnham Square, sixth) – “He actually ran a really, really good race. I had a rough trip around going into the second turn because of Admire Daytona. He stopped pretty badly, and he was tired, and he fell down into the fence on top of us and I had to steady pretty hard. We lost all momentum but then he ran on big down the lane just to be sixth. I was really, really pleased with the way he traveled over to the racetrack the first part of the race because he broke and put me in a great spot and we were able to save ground the whole way like we wanted to. It was just unfortunate circumstances, but that many horses going that far that Admire Daytona just kind of died off at the worst possible time.”

Jose Ortiz (Jockey, Sandman, seventh) – “He was traveling well despite being the first time on the sloppy track. I felt like on the backside I was following the right horses and I saw Junior (Alvarado on Sovereignty) and Journalism in front of me. I wish I was more patient and sat there a little longer and cut the corner. He was very steady, gave me a good effort but disappointed with the result.”

Manny Franco (Jockey, East Avenue, eighth) – “I tried to be forward but I had to sit and wait a little bit. He was struggling with the track a little bit too.”

Ethan West (Trainer, Chunk of Gold, ninth) – “I’m so proud of him. He had a good trip but just got tired late.”

Joel Rosario (Jockey, Tiztastic, 10th) – “It is hard to come way off the pace like we were. He looked like he was making a little move midway through the race but he got tired. It’s a long way on a sloppy track but we will try again next time.”

Juan Vargas (Jockey, Coal Battle, 11th) – “I had a good break. In the first turn I had to really check. I was in a good position in the backside but at the 5/16ths pole I had to check again really bad.”

Lonnie Briley (Trainer, Coal Battle, 11th) – “When Vargas was able to get him over, I thought he was in pretty good shape. Then another horse came on his inside. When he kind of settled, another horse came and sort of broad-sided him. It kind of knocked the wind out of him. When he asked him to go, he responded but not like he normally does.”

Joao Moreira (Jockey, Luxor Café, 12th) – “He didn’t have the best of trips. He didn’t jump all that well and was squeezed at the start. Unfortunately he didn’t perform as well as we hoped.”

Luis Saez (Jockey, Neoeqous, 13th) – “I was in a good spot, got excited for a little bit. He tried and ran big but he’s going to be OK next time.”

Irad Ortiz Jr.  (Jockey, Publisher, 14th) – “I thought he was going to run much better than that. He broke well today, I put him in a good position but tried to make a run and it wasn’t there for me.”

Martin Garcia (Jockey, Citizen Bull, 15th) – “This is the first time he ran in the mud and he didn’t like it. He never felt comfortable and never fired.”

Julien Leparoux (Jockey, Render Judgment, 17th) – “I had no excuse. He broke sharp, traveled good and just didn’t have it at the end.”

Joe Ramos (Jockey, Flying Mohawk, 18th) – “My horse was traveling very good and then grabbed the bit on the turn when he switched leads. On the backside, when he wanted to switch leads again, wanted to move forward but after the half-mile pole, he stated to come back. Not sure if it was the sloppy track but he is a turf horse.”

Christophe Lemaire (Jockey, Admire Daytona-JPN, 19th) – “He was not comfortable on the sloppy track. He started well, got a good position but couldn’t follow the pace on the backstretch. He just lost his action and motivation.”