{"id":289187,"date":"2025-07-25T00:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T00:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/289187\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T00:00:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T00:00:20","slug":"sovereignty-stands-out-as-a-strong-contender-for-the-jim-dandy-stakes-at-saratoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/289187\/","title":{"rendered":"Sovereignty stands out as a strong contender for the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kentucky Derby (G1)\u00a0and Belmont Stakes (G1)\u00a0winner will look to continue his upward trajectory toward the Travers Stakes, facing familiar rivals such as Baeza, Sandman, and Hill Road.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sovereignty\u00a0returns<\/p>\n

Sovereignty\u00a0returns to the track where he won the Belmont Stakes <\/strong>\/ ADAM COGLIANESE \/ NYRA<\/p>\n

SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (Special for Turf Diario).- With a campaign that has already crowned him as one of the best colts of his generation, Sovereignty<\/strong>\u00a0will go postward Saturday seeking another victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2)<\/strong>, the traditional prep race for the Travers (G1)<\/strong>\u00a0at Saratoga<\/strong>. The 1 1\/8-mile dirt race carries a purse of $500,000 and brings together several of the season\u2019s top contenders.<\/p>\n

Representing the historic colors of Godolphin<\/strong>\u00a0and trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott<\/strong>, Sovereignty<\/strong>\u00a0dominated the first two jewels of the U.S. Triple Crown, defeating the outstanding Journalism<\/strong>\u00a0(Curlin<\/strong>) on both occasions. In the Kentucky Derby (G1)<\/strong>, he rallied from 16th position to score by 1 \u00bd lengths over a muddy track, and in the Belmont Stakes (G1)<\/strong>, here at Saratoga, he controlled the race wire-to-wire, defeating the same rival by three lengths, with Baeza<\/strong>\u00a0finishing third in both races.<\/p>\n

With a record of seven starts, four wins, and two seconds, and earnings topping $4.8 million, Sovereignty<\/strong>\u00a0is by Into Mischief<\/strong>\u00a0out of Crowned<\/strong>\u00a0(by Bernardini<\/strong>), and is a maternal grandson of Grade 1 winner Mushka<\/strong>\u00a0(Empire Maker<\/strong>), who was also trained by Mott<\/strong>. The bay wrapped up his preparations with a half-mile work in 49.82 seconds over the Oklahoma training track on July 19, and will break from post 5 with Junior Alvarado<\/strong>\u00a0aboard carrying 124 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing very well, his last race was good, no issues,\u201d said Mott<\/strong>, who has won this race four times. \u201cWe expect a good trip and a bit of luck. In this game, anything can happen until the numbers go up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second choice on paper is Baeza<\/strong>\u00a0(McKinzie<\/strong>), who will break from the rail with Chilean rider H\u00e9ctor Berr\u00edos<\/strong>\u00a0(120 pounds). Trained by John Shirreffs<\/strong>\u00a0for C R K Stable<\/strong>\u00a0and Grandview Equine<\/strong>, Baeza<\/strong>\u00a0was third in the Derby and Belmont and also showed well when runner-up to Journalism<\/strong>\u00a0in the Santa Anita Derby (G1)<\/strong>. \u201cHe didn\u2019t have his best race in the Belmont,\u201d said Shirreffs<\/strong>. \u201cPrat told me he had a hard time getting engaged on the backstretch. He had to run hard from the 800 meters. He can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Third in line is Sandman<\/strong>, a son of Tapit<\/strong>\u00a0trained by Mark Casse<\/strong>, who came from off the pace to finish runner-up to Journalism<\/strong>\u00a0and Gosger<\/strong>\u00a0(Nyquist<\/strong>) in the Preakness Stakes (G1)<\/strong>. Previously, he captured the Arkansas Derby (G1)<\/strong>\u00a0and will wear blinkers for the first time. \u201cI hope it doesn\u2019t take away from his kick, but that\u2019s something we have to try,\u201d said Casse<\/strong>. With three wins in 10 starts and earnings over $1.4 million, he will be ridden by Jos\u00e9 Ortiz<\/strong>\u00a0from post 2 carrying 124 pounds.<\/p>\n

Rising star Mo Plex<\/strong>\u00a0(Complexity<\/strong>), bred in New York with five wins from eight starts, will also try to make an impact. He was dominant in the Ohio Derby (G3)<\/strong>, defeating Chunk of Gold<\/strong>\u00a0(Preservationist<\/strong>), and has shown stamina for the distance. \u201cWhat impressed me most was his late kick; I think the 1 \u00bc miles suits him very well,\u201d said trainer Jeremiah Englehart<\/strong>. He will be ridden by Manny Franco<\/strong>\u00a0from post 3 (122 pounds) and faces the toughest test of his career.<\/p>\n

Completing the field is Irish-bred Hill Road<\/strong>\u00a0(Quality Road<\/strong>), a pupil of Chad Brown<\/strong>, who finished a strong fifth in the Belmont and previously won the Peter Pan Stakes (G3)<\/strong>. In preparation, he worked alongside Sierra Leone<\/strong>\u00a0(Gun Runner<\/strong>), the three-year-old champion and hero of the Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic (G1)<\/strong>. Starting from post 4 with Irad Ortiz Jr.<\/strong>, the bay aims to get into the mix.<\/p>\n

The Jim Dandy Stakes (G2)<\/strong>\u00a0promises to be a stellar preview of the Travers (G1)<\/strong>, scheduled for August 23, where Sovereignty<\/strong>\u00a0will look to continue making history. For now, all paths lead to\u2026os conducen a \u00e9l.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kentucky Derby (G1)\u00a0and Belmont Stakes (G1)\u00a0winner will look to continue his upward trajectory toward the Travers Stakes,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-289187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114910935418375932","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}