Sovereignty, dominant among 3-year-olds, makes Triple Crown question an all-time 'what if'

There’s no doubt anymore about the best 3-year-old colt in horse racing. 

It’s Sovereignty. And it’s definitive. 

But is it fair to ask what might have been?

Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner who skipped the Preakness, was an authoritative winner of Saturday’s Belmont, sweeping past favorite Journalism in the stretch to win, just like he did at Churchill Downs. 

That makes Sovereignty the rare horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes but was denied the chance to be horse racing’s 14th Triple Crown winner because he never contested the Preakness. 

Don’t blame the horse. And don’t even blame trainer Bill Mott. If anything, praise him. It’s possible the conservative management of Sovereignty, giving him five weeks between races rather than pushing him to run in the Preakness just two weeks after the Derby, might have been the reason he navigated the 1 ¼ miles in 2:00.69, just a shade off the track record at Saratoga. 

And it could be why Sovereignty remains fresh and poised for a campaign to target the Travers Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup Classic and perhaps the Dubai World Cup next spring, where he could run in front of owners who rule that country. 

But at the same time, it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Sovereignty deserved a chance to be a Triple Crown winner because he’s just that good of a racehorse, and he’ll never have that opportunity again. It’s going to forever remain an all-time horse racing “what if?” 

“If we wouldn’t have won today, we would have taken a lot of criticism,” Mott said immediately after the race on Fox Sports. “But it turned out good. A lot of times we make the wrong decision, but today it worked out well.”

Of course, the other factor here is that the Belmont was run this year at 1 ¼ miles at Saratoga rather than Belmont Park’s traditional 1 ½-mile configuration because the track is undergoing renovations. Even if Sovereignty had won all three Triple Crown races, it would have had an asterisk because of circumstances beyond his control. So maybe by choosing to skip the Preakness, Mott saved the entire sports world from a fruitless debate.

But what’s clear is that this crop of 3-year-olds is very good: Sovereignty, Journalism and Baeza were 1-2-3 in Louisville and 1-2-3 in New York, with Journalism taking advantage in the Preakness to get a classic victory on his résumé. 

That consistency is indicative of some very good racehorses that have the potential to continue their rivalry the rest of the year. But for now, there’s no doubt about the best of them. 

Sovereignty reigns supreme.