By Tim Wilkin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After a post-race visit for a beer and some hors d'oeuvres at the downtown Whitman Brewing Company, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was home, conked out on the recliner.
“I must have slept in the chair for an hour,” Mott said. “I turned the TV on and, at the count of three, I was gone. I woke up at midnight and went to bed.”
And that is how Mott spent his night after his talented 3-year-old colt Sovereignty (Into Mischief) turned the 157th running of the GI Belmont Stakes into his personal playground. He stamped himself as the best of his division with an emphatic three-length win over Journalism (Curlin) in the finale of the 2025 Triple Crown.
Sovereignty, owned by Godolphin, also won the GI Kentucky Derby and has three wins in four starts this year.
“He is a top-notch horse,” Mott said, standing outside Sovereignty's stall at the Oklahoma Training Track early Sunday morning. “I don't think there is any denying that now. I think we have seen enough. It didn't happen just one time. He has put in some good runs consistently.”
A steady stream of Sovereignty fans made their way to the grassy area in the barn area and snapped pictures of him.
The blanket of white carnations, which Sovereignty earned for the Belmont, were draped over a post in front of his stall.
The next major target for Sovereignty will be the GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 23. How he gets there is what Mott must figure out. He said he could either train him up to the race or, more likely, run him in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 26.
“The immediate goal is to let the trainer rest a little bit,” Mott said with a laugh “Walk the trainer for a few days and get him back in the feed tub, then we'll decide. Our goal will be to get [Sovereignty] to the Travers the best way we can.”
Mott reiterated Sunday what he said at his Belmont press conference Saturday night: he was not going to play the “what if” game when it came to the GI Preakness Stakes.
After Sovereignty beat Journalism in the Kentucky Derby, Mott and Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA's Director of Bloodstock, wasted little time in adamantly announcing they would not run in the Preakness and have a go at the Triple Crown.
After winning the Belmont, he was not going to speculate that had Sovereignty run in Baltimore, he would now be celebrated as the sport's 14th Triple Crown winner. Journalism won the Preakness, overcoming a rugged trip with some bumping in the stretch.
“No, that would be totally ridiculous to even consider it as far as I'm concerned,” he said. “We are pleased with the outcome. Who knows? What if we are at Pimlico and we got caught up in a logjam. You look back, you don't know. Where would we have been when all that happened? Hey, it turned out good for us, it turned out good for the horse, it turned out good for the connections. No regrets.”
Journalism Will Head West, But Could Come Back East
Just before 7 a.m. Sunday morning, trainer Michael McCarthy examined his war horse Journalism (Curlin), the runner-up in Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes. The colt passed the test.
“He is very well,” McCarthy said outside at the Oklahoma Training Track.
Journalism finished second to Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the Belmont and the GI Kentucky Derby. In both races, Journalism was the favorite. He did win the GI Preakness, also as the favorite.
After being on the road for the last six weeks, Journalism will head back home to California and McCarthy's barn at Santa Anita on Tuesday. From there, McCarthy will figure out a plan for Journalism's next start.
The long-range goal for the year is the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
McCarthy said Journalism could have two starts before that. The GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth on July 19, the GII Jim Dandy at Saratoga, the GI Travers Stakes, also at Saratoga, and the GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 20 are options.
“Everything is on the table,” McCarthy said. “I could see that scenario [three races] very easily. We will get him home, let him get his feet underneath him a little bit and have an easy week or 10 days and then get back in a rhythm with him.”
Journalism, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables Five, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, has raced five times this year and has three wins and two seconds.
He was the only horse that ran in all three legs of the Triple Crown.
Journalism has run at four different tracks–Santa Anita, Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Saratoga–in his last four starts.
“It takes a special horse to be able to go from venue to venue, racetrack to racetrack and not needing to take a particular kind of racetrack with him,” McCarthy said. “Second in the Kentucky Derby with a little bit of a muddled trip early, an adventurous trip in the Preakness and getting the job done, and a third race in five weeks and showing up and bringing his 'A' game in the Belmont and nearly getting it done. There is a lot to like about that.”
Journalism will head home with only one piece of the Triple Crown and a pair of solid, but not special efforts.
McCarthy was proud of the efforts of his horse in the grueling series and expects he will be a tough foe for the rest of the division the second half of the year.
“He is a special horse that can take a heavy workload,” he said. “You don't see many horses like him. So much is putting spacing into races and, I suppose, there is something to that. In this particular case, I thought he was a horse that could handle something like the Triple Crown, and I certainly think he did.”
Shirreffs Puzzled With Baeza's Belmont Performance
John Shirreffs, the trainer of GI Belmont Stakes third-place finisher Baeza (McKinzie), was asked what he thought of his horse's race.
After a long pause, Shirreffs smiled and asked the lone writer this:
“Does that cover it all?” he said.
Baeza, the 7-2 third choice in the eight-horse Belmont, was never a factor as he finished 6 1/2 lengths behind the winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and three lengths away from Journalism (Curlin), who was second.
Shirreffs came in with high hopes as Baeza had exited a solid showing in the GI Kentucky Derby where he was third, just a neck behind Journalism, who was second to Sovereignty.
“When [jockey] Flavien [Prat] asked him to go, it took him a long time to really engage and get going,” Shirreffs said outside Baeza's stall at the Oklahoma Training Track. “He did not have that big kick at the end like he did in the Derby. I don't know why. I am a little perplexed. Obviously, I thought he would run a lot better than he did.”
Shirreffs said his first thought was that Baeza may not have liked the drying out Saratoga track. Steady rain early in the day had made the Spa oval sloppy, but it was listed as good by the time the Belmont was run.
Shirreffs could find nothing wrong with Baeza, owned by C R K Stable LLC and Grandview Equine, on Sunday morning. The horse is scheduled to ship back to California on Tuesday and Shirreffs said a plan will be made for the next race moving forward.
The Belmont was Baeza's sixth career start, and he only has a maiden win on his resume. After breaking his maiden in his third start, he was a solid second behind Journalism in the GI Santa Anita Derby and then had the impressive run in the Derby.
“I still think his future is bright,” he said. “Yesterday was just not his day. He has to figure things out, without a doubt.”
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