By Steve Sherack
Go ahead and crown him.
Dual Classic winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) showed no mercy on his four overmatched rivals, romping by 10 lengths in Saturday's GI DraftKings Travers S. at Saratoga. Bracket Buster (Vekoma) and Magnitude (Not This Time) rounded out the top three.
“Our horse just proved how good he was when he pulled away in the last eighth of a mile,” winning Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “He's pretty special.”
The 1-4 favorite jumped well from post four and trailed the bunched-up field as expected pacesetter Magnitude led through an opening quarter :23.47. He raced in between rivals and was up a spot in fourth through a half mile in :47.43.
Third on the outside and in the clear with dead aim less than a half mile from home, Junior Alvarado asked the question as Bracket Buster turned them in approaching the top of the stretch. The response was immediate and absolutely spectacular.
The Godolphin homebred lengthened that massive stride of his as they straightened for home, kicked clear inside the three-sixteenths pole and ran up the score despite being geared down late to provide Mott with his first win in the Travers. The final time for 1 1/4 miles was 2:00.84.
“For me, racing primarily in New York now, the Kentucky Derby was great, but I must say, for me, I think the Travers is a great race to win,” Mott said. “It's very satisfying and gratifying to get that done.”
He continued, “He settled into stride and looked comfortable once he got around the first turn and down the backside. When he left the three-eighths pole, he just cruised up to the leaders and took over. I don't know how much bigger it gets than this. Of course, the Breeders' Cup (Classic) is at the end of the year, and we've always got to consider that.”
Sovereignty becomes the first winner of the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Belmont Stakes and Travers since Thunder Gulch did so in 1995. Twenty Grand (1931), Whirlaway (1941) and Shut Out (1942) have also completed the prestigious triple.
It was a third Travers win for Godolphin. The 'Boys in Blue' have also won it with Alpha (2012, dead-heat with Golden Ticket) and Essential Quality (2021).
“It is monumental for the fans to have what looks like the best 3-year-old in the country go out and win the Travers in the manner he did today, with a massive crowd here at Saratoga, to put on a performance like that,” said Michael Banahan, Director of Bloodstock for Godolphin USA.
“We are just along for the ride and so grateful for Sheikh Mohammed, Godolphin's founder, to have another win in the Travers. It wasn't in the Godolphin colors, but we had Bernardini win back in the day, he was as impressive as Sovereignty was today.”
Sovereignty's loaded resume also includes wins in the GII Jim Dandy S., GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. and GIII Street Sense S. and a runner-up finish in the GI Curlin Florida Derby.
Sovereignty debuted with a fourth-place finish in a maiden special weight on last year's Travers undercard, highlighted in these same pages in our Second Chances series.
“This is the horse of a lifetime,” said Alvarado, who was also the regular rider of fellow Godolphin homebred and Mott-trained 2023 Horse of the Year Cody's Wish.
Pedigree Notes:
Sovereignty was one of two Grade I winners for out-of-this-world sire Into Mischief on the loaded Travers program. Sovereignty was produced by the unraced Bernardini mare Crowned, a daughter of GISW Mushka (Empire Maker) and a $1.2-million Keeneland September yearling purchase by Sheikh Mohammed's operation.
The Into Mischief x A.P. Indy cross has also produced GISWs Atone (o/o an A.P. Indy mare) and Newgate (o/o a Majestic Warrior mare). Crowned is also responsible for a yearling colt by Nyquist. She passed away in 2024.
The aforementioned Bernardini won the 2006 Travers, and, in addition to Sovereignty, is also the broodmare sire of 2018 Travers winner Catholic Boy. He is the sire of back-to-back Travers winners Stay Thirsty (2011) and Alpha (2012).
👑 SOVEREIGNTY reigns supreme!
He wins the @DraftKings Travers, giving Bill Mott & @JuniorandKellyA their first-ever Travers and becoming the first horse since 1995 to sweep the @KentuckyDerby, @BelmontStakes & Travers! pic.twitter.com/bxJNgj9ZU2
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 23, 2025
Saturday, Saratoga
DRAFTKINGS TRAVERS S.-GI, $1,212,500, Saratoga, 8-23, 3yo, 1 1/4m, 2:00.84, ft.
1–SOVEREIGNTY, 126, c, 3, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Crowned, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Mushka, by Empire Maker
3rd Dam: Sluice, by Seeking the Gold
O/B-Godolphin, LLC (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior
Alvarado. $687,500. Lifetime Record: 9-6-2-0, $5,835,300.
Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross
pedigree or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style
pedigree.
2–Bracket Buster, 126, c, 3, Vekoma–Spring Dance, by Dance
With Ravens. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($160,000 Wlg '22
KEENOV; $125,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-BBN Racing LLC;
B-David Baxter (KY); T-Victoria H. Oliver. $250,000.
3–Magnitude, 126, c, 3, Not This Time–Rockadelic, by
Bernardini. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($310,000 Wlg '22 KEENOV;
$450,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC;
B-Ron Stolich (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $150,000.
Margins: 10, 10 3/4, 12HF. Odds: 0.30, 17.80, 3.60.
Also Ran: McAfee, Strategic Focus.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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