Sovereignty arrives at the Saratoga Race Course, led by his trainer Bill Mott. Image via Mary Eddy/the New York Racing Association (NYRA).
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Sovereignty, the winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby, has officially arrived at the Saratoga Race Course, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced last week.
The colt’s arrival came just two days after news that his trainer Bill Mott had decided to skip the Preakness Stakes, thus forgoing a Triple Crown attempt, and aim for the Belmont Stakes instead.
Sovereignty was escorted by Mott off a massive “horse van” that looked more spacious than many New York City apartments.
“He came off the van like a tiger,” Mott told NYRA. “He’s had good energy for a horse that just ran a race like that.”
Mott added that he would see how Sovereignty acts once he settles down and then decide upon an exercise routine.
The Derby winner is no stranger to the Spa City. His first-ever race, the Maiden Special Weight, was in Saratoga on Aug. 24 of last year. Though he finished fourth in his debut outing, he quickly rebounded with a second-place finish the following month at Belmont at The Big A, before winning his next two races at Churchill Downs and Gulfstream Park.
“We feel pretty comfortable here and know our way around here, so that’s a good thing,” Mott said.
At the Kentucky Derby, Sovereignty upset the favorite Journalism on a sloppy track in front of a reported crowd of 147,406 spectators. The race was viewed by an average of 17.7 million viewers, according to NBC, which made it the biggest Kentucky Derby television audience since 1989. The all-sources betting handle of more than $234 million also shattered previous records.
Sovereignty’s rider, Junior Alvarado, was invited to throw out the first pitch of a New York Yankees game against the San Diego Padres in the Bronx on May 7. At the ballgame, Alvarado managed to honor the sport of horse racing by tossing a clean strike across home plate into the waiting mitt of Yankees infielder Oswald Peraza, a fellow Venezuelan native.
Although the Belmont field is not yet set, it’s possible that Saratogians could witness a Sovereignty-Journalism rematch on June 7 during the final leg of the Triple Crown.
The new Mark Paine Foundation logo, via the foundation.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Mark Paine Foundation (formerly known as the Mark Paine Memorial Scholarship) announced it would be hosting its first annual free baseball clinic for Saratoga Springs little leaguers on Sunday, May 16 from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. at the Saratoga West Side Little League. The clinic is powered by D-BAT, a baseball and softball training academy in Saratoga.
The Mark Paine Foundation was established in 2024 to honor the life and legacy of Mark Paine, the father of two young children and a former Saratoga High School star athlete who tragically passed away in February 2024. The foundation partners with Saratoga Youth Hockey, Saratoga Little League, and the Saratoga varsity athletic programs to offer grants, college scholarships, free skills clinics, and support for equipment needs.
MILL SPRING, NORTH CAROLINA — The Skidmore College riding team finished 5th in the closely-contested Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Championship in North Carolina last weekend.
Overall, the Thoroughbreds finished with 33 team points, only 4 shy of first-place Purdue. Heading into the final day of competition at the three-day tournament, Skidmore was in a three-way tie for second place.
Among various individual achievements at the tournament, junior Bevin Dean won the Individual Introductory Equitation, senior Charlotte Lyon won Limit Equitation Over Fences, sophomore Isa Jensen placed third in the Intermediate Equitation Over Fences Team competition, and sophomore Stella Allen earned a third-place finish in the Team Novice Equitation.
The Thoroughbreds have won a total of 9 IHSA National Championships, most recently in 2023.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Academy for Lifelong Learning is offering a 2-session freshwater fishing course on May 30 and June 6, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Knights of Columbus (50 Pine Road in Saratoga Springs). Registration is open to everyone.
The presenter, Captain Jim Mason, is a New York State fishing guide, YouTube fisherman (Jimjam Fishing YouTube channel), and fishing facts writer. He’ll be offering tips and tricks with live demonstrations and hands-on videos.
For more information or to fill out a registration form, visit www.allsaratoga.org.
Photo of Skidmore lacrosse player Mike Aiello via Matt Milless/Skidmore Athletics.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Skidmore College freshman Mike Aiello has been named the Liberty League Men’s Lacrosse Rookie of the Year, making him the first Thoroughbred recipient of that award since 2009. He also received All-Liberty League Honorable Mention.
Aiello finished the season with a team-high 35 goals and 46 points, ranking fourth in the Liberty League in goals per game (2.33) and second in shots per game (8.93). He also had 10 multi-goal games and scored at least once in each of his first 14 contests.
Other Skidmore lacrosse honorees included David Koffler, who was voted to the All-Liberty League Second Team, and All-Liberty League Honorable Mentions Marty McFadden and Michael Dearborn.
Koffler played in and started all 15 games this season, scoring 14 goals and six assists for a career-best 20 points. He also scooped up 28 ground balls and caused four turnovers. Additionally, he finished with 60 shots (31 shots on goal) and had a game-winning goal against New Paltz.
McFadden finished third in the Liberty League averaging 1.86 caused turnovers per game. He also scored three goals and had an assist for a career-best four points.
Dearborn ranked second in the Liberty League, averaging 1.93 caused turnovers per game. He finished his debut season for Skidmore recording a team-high 29 caused turnovers.
Belmont Stakes logo via the New York Racing Association (NYRA).
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Sovereignty, the horse that won this year’s Kentucky Derby, will not compete in the upcoming Preakness Stakes, it was announced on Tuesday. As a result, there will be no opportunity for a Triple Crown winner at the Belmont Stakes, which is being held at the Saratoga Race Course on June 7.
“We received a call today from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness,” said Mike Rogers, executive vice president of 1/ST Racing, the company that operates the Pimlico Race Course, host of the Preakness. “Bill informed us they would point toward the Belmont Stakes. We extend our congratulations to the connections of Sovereignty and respect their decision.”
Sovereignty upset Derby favorite Journalism on a sloppy track in front of a reported crowd of 147,406 spectators. The race was viewed by an average of 17.7 million viewers, according to NBC, which made it the biggest Kentucky Derby television audience since 1989. The all-sources betting handle of more than $234 million also shattered previous records.
The decision by Sovereignty’s connections to point towards Belmont rather than Preakness set off contentious online discourse among horse racing fans, some of whom advocated for changing the scheduling of the Triple Crown races to encourage more Triple Crown attempts. Others debated the need for more cooperation among track operators, while others still argued that the Triple Crown would simply have to become less important to the sport.
Despite bailing on the Preakness, Sovereignty is expected to compete at the Belmont Stakes, which is being held for the second year in Saratoga while construction continues on Belmont Park in Long Island.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Shaheem Sanders, one of the top players on the Saratoga Racers basketball team last season, was seriously injured in a recent motor vehicle accident, according to a statement issued by the team last weekend.
An update from Sanders’ mother stated that Sanders successfully underwent surgery, but would have “a long, hard recovery” ahead.
“I can still play basketball, I just have to go through rehab,” Sanders said in a video message posted to his Facebook account.
Sanders was a double-double machine for the Racers in their inaugural ABA season, regularly leading the team in rebounds.
The 2024-25 season was Sanders’ first in the ABA. He previously played for Schenectady High School, Cayuga Community College, and SUNY Morrisville.
BALLSTON SPA — Ballston Spa native and Duke University softball standout Ana Gold was selected by the Blaze as the 9th overall pick in the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) college draft on Saturday night. The draft was broadcast on ESPNU.
The AUSL will feature four teams playing a 24-game season in a traditional format. The league’s commissioner is Kim Ng, the former general manager of the Miami Marlins and a former assistant general manager for the New York Yankees.
Gold’s college career at Duke includes a career slash line of .309/.412/.610. To those numbers, she’s added 49 homers, 7 triples, and 28 doubles for the Blue Devils since her freshman year in 2022. She’s also stolen 50 bases and totaled nearly 200 hits in a little more than 600 at bats.
At Ballston Spa High School, she was ranked the No. 39 prospect in the country (according to Extra Innings Softball), was named three times to the Suburban Council’s First Team, and was a two-time Second Team All-Stater.
The Blaze also selected Virginia Tech’s Emma Lemley and Florida Gator Korbe Otis in the draft.
EAST GREENBUSH — Kevin Smith, an East Greenbush native whose MLB career culminated with a stint on the 2024 New York Yankees, has a new venture keeping him busy during retirement: a premium youth glove company called Kali Gloves.
Smith, a Columbia High School grad who also played with the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics, co-founded Kali Gloves with Matt Talarico, the Yankees’ former director of speed and baserunning.
The idea for their new collaboration was born in the Yankees clubhouse, where players and staffers struggled to find a high-quality, customizable leather glove specifically designed for kids and little leaguers. Smith began taking matters, quite literally, into his own hands.
“We started to cut up gloves in the locker room,” Smith told Saratoga TODAY. “I was cutting up my own gloves trying to figure out a way to make them easier to close [and] have them fit little kids’ hands better…We took our experience of seeing kids always using the wrong glove, making it harder for them to be good at playing catch and play the game and have fun, and we paired it with as many innovations as we could to say, ‘Okay, this is the glove that I want my kid to have.’”
The key ingredient in the Kali Gloves recipe is Japanese kip leather, which is lighter and softer than traditional rawhide, but durable enough to hold its shape after years of wear, tear, and ground balls. It’s also easier to break in, and it does a better job molding itself to the smaller hands of young athletes.
According to Talarico, one unnamed MLB All-Star said he liked a Kali glove designed for Talarico’s daughter better than four custom gloves designed just for him. “He couldn’t believe there was a youth glove that felt like that,” Talarico said in a message posted to the Kali website.
This All-Star apparently wasn’t the only major leaguer to try out a Kali glove. Smith said that Yankees ace Max Fried recently wore one at Yankee Stadium.
“A lot of former players and coaches are buying it for their kids,” Smith said. “That was the best thing because they’ve been around the game for so long.”
The swanky-looking gloves are all 10.5 inches, an ideal size for kids learning baseball basics. They also feature elastic wrist laces that prevent slipping and sliding, elastic finger loops that ensure correct hand placement, and palm slits that help the gloves maintain their shape and performance over time. All told, the Kali glove distinguishes itself from both cheaper competitors and pricier custom gloves that can sometimes take up to a year to receive. (By contrast, a mint-colored Kali glove imported from Japan takes only 3-4 weeks to arrive.)
Smith said that designing and manufacturing these youth gloves began as a hobby, but soon blossomed into a booming business.
“We went through a bunch of prototypes that started catching on and a lot of people were interested in them, so we figured we’d make a few more, and it’s been really fun,” Smith said. “The long-term vision is to be a youth athletic company trying to make premium products for kids, ones that help them play the game and love the game better.”
It might not be long before Smith, who is settling into a post-playing career in Arizona, starts designing gloves for his own kids: an 18-month-old and a 7-month-old.
A young Kevin Smith, who grew up in the Capital Region as a New York Yankees fan before becoming a Yankee himself in 2024. Photo via Smith’s X account.
“I got to play in the big leagues and my wife traveled with me and we had a lot of fun but now we’re trying to grow a family, and the hotel life with two little kids wasn’t going to be ideal,” Smith said. “My family still lives in Albany [and] we’re in [Arizona] raising a family.”
Last season, Smith played in two games for the Yankees, the team he grew up idolizing as a youngster. “I was one of those kids watching [Derek] Jeter every night,” Smith told the YES Network’s Jack Curry during spring training.
Perhaps now, young New Yorkers watching the Bronx Bombers on TV will have better gloves to bring with them to the ballpark.
Smarty Jones at the 2004 Preakness Stakes. Photo by Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club. Photo provided by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs added seven inductees to its Hall of Fame last week.
Racehorse Smarty Jones, a finalist for the first time, was the lone selection in the contemporary category
Racehorses Decathlon and Hermis, as well as trainer George H. Conway, were chosen by the 1900-1959 Historic Review Committee
Edward L. Bowen, Arthur B. Hancock III, and Richard Ten Broeck were elected by the Pillars of the Turf Committee
The 2025 Hall of Fame class will be enshrined on Friday, Aug. 1, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the museum’s website. The event is open to the public and free to attend. Tom Durkin will serve as the master of ceremonies.
Smarty Jones
Bred in Pennsylvania by Someday Farm, Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality—I’ll Get Along, by Smile) raced from 2003 through 2004, winning eight of his nine career starts, including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in his sophomore season, and he won the Eclipse Award for Champion 3-Year-Old Male in 2004. Owned by Roy and Pat Chapman under their Someday Farm banner, Smarty Jones was trained by John C. Servis and ridden exclusively by Stewart Elliott. On May 1, 2004, Smarty Jones became the first undefeated Kentucky Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977, with a 2¾-length victory over Lion Heart before a crowd of 140,054 at Churchill Downs. Two weeks after his Derby victory, Smarty Jones romped by a record margin of 11½ lengths in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course with 124,351 in attendance. He earned a career-best 118 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, the fifth of six times he achieved a Beyer of 100 or higher. Smarty Jones was retired after a failed attempt at a Triple Crown sweep in the 2004 Belmont Stakes. He earned a record of 8-1-0 from nine starts and earnings of $7,613,155. He won his eight races by a combined 47½ lengths.
Decathlon
Bred in Kentucky by the Nuckols Brothers, Decathlon (Olympia—Dog Blessed, by Bull Dog) raced from 1955 through 1957, compiling a record of 25-8-1 from 42 starts and earnings of $269,530. Purchased at Keeneland in 1954 for $15,500 by Robert J. Dienst (the president of Ohio’s Beulah Park) and campaigned under his River Divide Farm banner, Decathlon was trained by Rollie Shepp. In his three years of racing, the bay colt won 18 stakes and was twice named Champion Sprint Horse (1956, 1957). He set track records at Monmouth Park, Suffolk Downs, and Tropical Park, equaled two track standards at Tropical, and matched the world record for 5½ furlongs (1:031/5) at Tropical in the first division of the Inaugural Handicap in 1956. Following his racing career, Decathlon stood at Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky, where he sired 165 winners from 253 foals, including 12 stakes winners. Decathlon died in 1972 at the age of 19.
Hermis
Bred in Kentucky by Hiram Berry, Hermis (Hermence—Katy of the West, by Spendrift) raced from 1901 through 1905 with a record of 28-8-6 from 55 starts and earnings of $84,155. A chestnut colt, Hermis was trained by Charles Hughes (July 1901 through August 1902), Jack McCormick (August 1902 through October 1902), and Alexander Shields (June 1903 through July 1905). He raced for a variety of owners, including H. M. Ziegler, L. V. Bell, and Edward R. Thomas (who paid a record $60,000 for the horse), among others. Hermis was retrospectively recognized by The BloodHorse-published book “The Great Ones” as Horse of the Year in 1902 and 1903; Champion 3-Year-Old Male in 1902; and Champion Older Male in 1903 and 1904. Overall, he won 14 stakes, earned victories at eight tracks (Aqueduct, Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Hawthorne, Latonia, Morris Park, Saratoga, Sheepshead Bay), and carried 132 pounds or more in four of his wins. He was exported to France in 1910 and was sent to Belgium three years later. What became of Hermis is a mystery, as all knowledge of the horse’s whereabouts were lost during World War I.
George H. Conway
Conway (1873-1939) is best known for training Hall of Famer War Admiral to a sweep of the 1937 Triple Crown and to an overall record of 21-3-1 from 26 starts and earnings of $273,240 from 1936 through 1938. A native of Oceanport, N.J., Conway also conditioned Hall of Fame member Crusader, as well as standouts Speed Boat, War Glory, and War Hero, among others. In addition to the Triple Crown, Conway trained War Admiral to victories in the Eastern Shore Handicap, Chesapeake Stakes, Washington Handicap, Pimlico Special, Widener Handicap, Queens County Handicap, Wilson Stakes, Saratoga Handicap, Whitney Handicap, Saratoga Cup, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Rhode Island Handicap. Suffering from heart trouble, Conway announced his retirement a week after War Admiral was retired to stud in 1938. Conway died on June 20, 1939, at his sister’s home in Oceanport.
Edward L. Bowen
Bowen (1942-2025) was a prolific racing journalist and historian for more than 60 years and served the sport in various other capacities, including 24 years as president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. A native of Welch, W. Va., Bowen was an Eclipse Award-winning journalist, editor in chief of The BloodHorse, author of 22 books about horse racing, and chairman of the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame Nominating Committee from 1987 through 2024. He was the inaugural recipient of the Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Award for meritorious contributions to the Museum in 2023. The prior year, Bowen was the Thoroughbred Club of America’s Honor Guest.
Arthur B. Hancock III
Hancock III was born in Nashville, Tenn., and for six decades has been a significant presence in American racing and breeding through his establishment of Stone Farm in 1970 near Paris, Ky. A member of one of the sport’s most distinguished families, Hancock’s grandfather, Arthur B. Hancock, Sr., founded Claiborne Farm, while his father, Arthur B. “Bull” Hancock, Jr., expanded the business to where it became arguably the most important breeding farm in the U.S. during the 20th century. In his capacity as an industry leader, Hancock has served on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, as a director of Keeneland Association and Fasig-Tipton Company, and as a member of The Jockey Club. He co-founded the Water Hay Oats Alliance (WHOA), a group dedicated to eliminating performance-enhancing drugs in racing. Hancock is also a devotee of bluegrass music and has written songs that have been recorded by artists such as Grandpa Jones, Willie Nelson, and Ray Price. He released an autobiography in 2024 titled, “Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption.”
Richard Ten Broeck
Ten Broeck (1811-1892) was one of American racing’s most prominent and accomplished figures in the 19th century, enjoying success as a racehorse and racetrack owner, thoroughbred breeder, and international racing pioneer. During the 1830s, Ten Broeck became associated with Col. William R. Johnson, one of America’s most renowned racing figures. By 1840, Ten Broeck was racing horses in his own colors in St. Louis, New Orleans, and New York. Ten Broeck’s stable began to rise to prominence and he was known as a leading turfman in the South when he took over management of the Bingaman (Louisiana) and Bascombe (Alabama) courses in 1847. In 1851, he purchased Metairie Race Course in New Orleans for $27,000. Under his management, Metairie became the premier track in the country in the decade prior to the Civil War. Ten Broeck later purchased Lecomte, Prioress, and Starke to race in England and became the first American owner to win an important race in that country. Ten Broeck raced in England for around 30 years. He became the first American member in the English Jockey Club. Ten Broeck regularly returned to America between English racing seasons and purchased 525 acres near Louisville, Ky., naming it Hurstbourne Stud in honor of the Duke of Portland’s estate in England. He eventually sold Hurstbourne and moved to Oakland, Calif., where he died a recluse in a small cottage.
