LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The last time trainer Bill Mott won the Kentucky Derby he had to wait 23 minutes as stewards debated whether to disqualify Maximum Security. They did and Country House was elevated to the top spot in that 2019 race. Mott had his first Derby victory.
On Saturday, he got to watch his horse, Sovereignty, cross the finish line first, 1 ½ lengths ahead of race favorite Journalism to win the 151st Kentucky Derby.
The day was dreary, cold and wet but none of that mattered to the Hall of Fame trainer or the 147,406 fans who watched the 3-year-old colt win.
Journalism’s chances might have been compromised at the start when the inside of the field bunched together and he got shuffled toward the rail. But he made a strong rally on the far turn with Sovereignty right behind him. When they entered the stretch it was a two-horse race. They ran side-by-side with Sovereignty on the outside.
In the final strides, Sovereignty pulled ahead and found himself in the record books. He paid $17.96 to win.
“I was silent, I guess, until they hit the wire,” Mott said. “But then it all came out. I was lucky enough to be with my family, and we kind of had a brief celebration there until we went to the infield. Just a great feeling.
“I’m so proud of the horse. I’m so proud of everybody that had anything to do with getting this horse to this point, and it takes a lot of people. It takes a family, and it takes a community to get him ready.”
If you take Sovereignty out of the picture, it was a repeat of the Santa Anita Derby with Journalism finishing ahead of Baeza, who took third from the far outside. It was actually advantageous to be on the outside as of the top seven horses, four of them started no closer than post 17.
The rest of the field, from fourth place was Final Gambit, Owen Almighty, Burnham Square, Sandman, East Avenue, Chunk of Gold, Tiztastic, Coal Battle, Luxor Café, Neoequos, Publisher, Citizen Bull, American Promise, Render Judgment, Flying Mohawk and Admire Daytona.
It was the first Derby win for jockey Junior Alvarado. It was also his first win in a Triple Crown race.
“Going to the first turn, I tried to save ground in the first turn,” Alvarado said. “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 he showed his stuff. I knew what he was capable of.”
It’s difficult to find fault with Journalism’s race. He just got beat.
“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,” said Michael McCarthy, his trainer. “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 the best he could and he ran a very good race. But the winner ran a better race.”
Rispoli also had a similar opinion of the race.
“On the backside, I had a lot of horses in front of me that didn’t appear to have a chance,” Rispoli said. “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.”
Third-place finisher Baeza also ran a good race.
“When [jockey Flavien Prat] got him out, he made a really good run,” said Baeza’s trainer John Shirreffs. “All things considered, the fact that he shipped for the first 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.”
The track was listed as sloppy. Mott’s other Derby winner, Country House, also won on a sloppy track.
It was Bob Baffert’s first trip to the Derby since 2021 when Medina Spirit won and was subsequently disqualified for a positive medication test. A legal fight ensued and Churchill Downs banned the trainer for two years and subsequently tacked on another year because it didn’t believe he was contrite enough. The ban was lifted for this year.
He started with two horses, Citizen Bull and Rodriguez, but Rodriguez was scratched Thursday because of a minor sensitivity in one of his hooves. Baffert said he is headed to the Preakness Stakes.
Citizen Bull, in the dreaded one hole, jumped to the lead and moved to the center of the track where he led until the far turn, then he gave up.
“This is the first time he ran in the mud and he didn’t like it,” jockey Martin Garcia said of Citizen Bull’s 15th-place finish. “He never felt comfortable and never fired.”
This was the 71-year-old Mott’s 14th Derby appearance. He was part of the heart-tugging story of Cody Dorman and the horse called Cody’s Wish. But perhaps his biggest horse was Cigar, who tied Citation’s record with 16 straight wins. Mott has four Eclipse Awards as top trainer.
Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for owner Godolphin, wasn’t immediately booking a ticket for Sovereignty to Baltimore for the Preakness in two weeks. But it would be a surprise if he didn’t go to the second leg of the Triple Crown.
“I think we’re going to leave that up to the trainer,” Banahan said. “He’s in the Hall of Fame for a lot of good reasons. So we’ll assess the horse and see how he comes out of the race. He ran really hard [Saturday]. … If he responds well, maybe we look at that, you know? But I don’t want to jump in straightaway.”