Bye-Bye Belmont: Sovereignty Reigns Supreme, Saturday Generates $102 Million Handle
The August Belmont Trophy is hoisted in the winner’s circle after Sovereignty’s victory in the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course. Photo by Jonathon Norcross.
ARATOGA SPRINGS — A cascade of rain dampened the track, but not the spirits of attendees of the 157th Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in Saratoga last weekend, when Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty once again outran his top foe and the morning-line favorite Journalism to claim a second leg of the Triple Crown.
“I feel we beat a good field of horses,” Sovereignty’s trainer Bill Mott told the New York Racing Association (NYRA). “Journalism is a really good horse. I’ve watched him here this last week and I’ve looked at him – he’s in good form, he looks great, his hair is good and his weight is good. I think he was ready to run today and he ran a good race, you know…Sovereignty was good enough to run him down and get the job done.”
Mott also indicated after the race that he’s interested in running Sovereignty in the Travers Stakes, which will be held at the Saratoga Race Course on August 23.
Belmont Stakes Day, June 8, was hindered by an onslaught of morning rain that finally cleared in the early afternoon. Races 9 and 12—the Grade 1 Jaipur and the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan—were both rescheduled for the following day due to the weather. As a result, the all-sources handle for Belmont Stakes Day suffered, falling from $125.7 million in 2024 to $101.8 million this year. Attendance also declined slightly, from 50,000 last year to 46,243 on Saturday.