Sovereignty

Despite a few downgrades due to weather and a cancellation here and there, the U.S. and Canada still combined to run 446 graded races in 2025. What stands out after another full year of North American graded racing is in the books? All 98 scheduled Grade I races were run, with just three horses scoring a trio of successes at the elite level: Journalism, Sovereignty, and Ted Noffey. Another nine horses doubled up with two Grade I wins on the year. In addition to the 98 Grade I events, there...

Capping off another tremendous year that included a win aboard Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Kentucky Derby, Junior Alvarado has been named the 2025 Male Venezuelan Athlete of the Year. He is the first jockey to ever earn the honor. The Venezuelan Athlete of the Year is the most prestigious sporting honor in Venezuela. It has been awarded annually since 1944 by the Circle of Sports Journalists of Venezuela. This year's female winner was Yorgelis Salazar, whose field is karate. "I was shocked, to be honest with you," Alvarado...

Horse of the Year candidate and MGISW Sovereignty (Into Mischief) will return to racing in 2026. The news was confirmed by Godolphin's Michael Banahan in an interview Saturday with FanDuel TV. Questioned about the stable's star runner, Banahan told FanDuel's Caton Bredar that Sovereignty was "doing great". "He's up in Kentucky at the moment," Banahan said. "He's at Keeneland. He's galloping--doing fine. We'll probably get him down here to Payson [Park] early in the new year and get him [trainer] Bill [Mott]. Hopefully we'll have as a good a year...

TAPPAN STREET, last seen on the track winning the GI Curlin Florida Derby in March, missed quite an eventful summer. Take for instance the horse he defeated that day in Sovereignty (Into Mischief), who never lost again this season and looks to be a strong candidate for Horse of the Year. Had a condylar fracture in his right front leg not knocked him off the Road to the Kentucky Derby, perhaps Tappan Street would have had more to say in the big 3-year-old races this season. As it stands, the...

As the dust settles on the 2025 racing season, the TDN Writers' Room team is gathering for one last round of conversation. In this festive finale, presented as always by Keeneland, Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman pull up a chair to celebrate and unpack the moments that defined the year. The team takes a deep dive into the top horses and races of 2025. It's no secret that Book'em Danno (Bucchero) was Bill's favorite horse, but Randy and Zoe shared "Top Race of the Year" picks that might...

In this festive finale to the TDN Writers' Room in 2025, the team of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman looked back on some of their favorite races and horses of the year. They answered a few listener write-in questions and even fielded a few curveball questions sent in by the producers. Tune in for a trip down memory lane and a look ahead to 2026 with the Writers' Room.

Tappan Street (Into Mischief) will make his highly anticipated return in an allowance optional claimer going a mile at Gulfstream Park Friday. He is being aimed at the $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Jan. 24. Last seen defeating leading Horse of the Year candidate and GI Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 29, the $1-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling was forced to miss the Derby after suffering a condylar fracture in his right front leg. Dr. Larry Bramlage performed surgery on the WinStar Farm,...

This week on the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland, get ready for a special Best of 2025 episode. Throughout the year, people from all corners of the industry joined us on the show as the Gainesway Guest of the Week to provide candid conversations and insights. In this episode, we roll out the highlight reel of the most compelling interviews of 2025, bringing back the voices and moments that defined the season. This week listeners will hear from: Griffin Johnson: The popular social media star and entrepreneur discusses his...

The TDN Writers' Room saw a host of entertaining and enlightening guests in 2025. Here's a look at few of our favorites: Griffin Johnson, Terry Bradshaw, Junior Alvarado, and a collection of industry veterans who shared stories of the legendary D. Wayne Lukas.

Sponsored by Pedigrees 360 Into Mischief and a Bernardini mare: on the face of it, "the Sovereign remedy" for a sophomore round Churchill Downs in 2025. It produced the GI Kentucky Derby winner, and has now given us a filly moving rapidly through the ranks in Shred the Gnar, winner of the GIII Chilukki Stakes after a six-month layoff. If anything, however, it feels overdue for the dominant stallion of our times to come up with one or two stars from daughters of such an outstanding broodmare sire. Interestingly, the...

Aga Khan homebred Calandagan (Gleneagles) triumphed in the G1 Champion Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day and is now rated the best horse in the world in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings. Rated 130 from 125, the gelding defeated G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes/G1 International Stakes hero Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) (128), group winner Almaqam (Lope De Vega) (122) and G1 Eclipse Stakes victor Delacroix (Dubawi) (126) last month. The G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud both went his way...

The World Championships concluded Saturday with sterling efforts and drama abound, and the connections of the newly crowned took Sunday morning to provide updates on their charges as they look ahead. Trainer Michael McCarthy reported that all six of his Breeders' Cup horses came out of their races in good order, and plans for MGISW Journalism (Curlin)--whether to continue racing or retirement--will be finalized in the coming week. The colt finished fourth in the Classic under new rider Jose Ortiz. "This is more or less what we've seen from him...