G1 Kentucky Derby champion Sovereignty arrives at Saratoga Race Course

• G1 Kentucky Derby champion Sovereignty arrives at Saratoga Race Course
• Happily Delusional to contest G3 Peter Pan, Volleyballprincess eyes G3 Miss Preakness
• On Command earns 86 BSF for Listed License Fee

Grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winner Sovereignty arrived early Thursday morning at Saratoga Race Course to begin his preparations for the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 7 at the Spa.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott for owner/breeder Godolphin, the Into Mischief bay shipped from Churchill Downs and arrived around 7:30 a.m. to the barn of the veteran conditioner, along with recent Churchill runners Scylla and Resilience.

“He came off the van like a tiger,” said Mott, now a two-time Kentucky Derby-winning conditioner after saddling Country House in 2019. “He’s had good energy for a horse that just ran a race like that.”

Mott added he will “see how he acts once he settles down” and decide from there what his exercise routine will be at the Spa. It was announced Tuesday that Sovereignty would skip the Grade 1 Preakness on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course and target the Belmont Stakes – held at Mott’s home base where he stables his top horses from April through November each year.

“We feel pretty comfortable here and know our way around here, so that’s a good thing,” Mott concluded.

Sovereignty was an emphatic winner of the Kentucky Derby with an expert trip carved out by regular rider Junior Alvarado, who has been aboard the colt for 5-of-6 starts and only missed riding in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 29 due to injury.

With Alvarado back aboard on the first Saturday in May, Sovereignty was patiently handled in 16th-of-19 and as far back as 13 lengths off the pacesetting Citizen Bull through the half-mile in 46.23 seconds over the sloppy and sealed surface. Alvarado asked Sovereignty for more entering the turn, and the colt responded strongly, steadily picking off rivals with an outside rush to be fourth at the stretch call. Six-wide into the stretch, a determined Sovereignty set his sights on the leading and favored Journalism, and edged clear of his rival inside the final sixteenth to cross the wire 1 1/2 lengths in front in a final time of 2:02.31.

Mott recounted the exact moment he felt confident that his colt would wear the garland of roses.

“When he hit the wire,” Mott said, with a laugh.

Alvarado, a native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, earned his first victory in a Triple Crown event, notching a popular win that led to the New York Yankees inviting him to throw out the first pitch at Wednesday night’s game against the San Diego Padres in the Bronx. The successful pitch crossed over the plate and into the glove of Yankees third-baseman Oswald Peraza, a fellow Venezuelan native. 

“They call it [a] strike so I’ll retire with that,” Alvarado said in a post on “X.”

After all the celebrations are said and done, Mott added he is still finding the words to describe what this past weekend’s accomplishment means to him and Godolphin, who also won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks with the Brad Cox-trained Good Cheer last Friday.

“You couldn’t feel much better,” Mott said. “I don’t know how words explain it. We’ve won a lot of nice races, and that’s right up there with them.”

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Happily Delusional to contest G3 Peter Pan, Volleyballprincess eyes G3 Miss Preakness

Bran Jam Stable and David Clark’s Happily Delusional is set to take a big swing in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by Louis Linder, Jr., the Flatter bay is cross-entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Long Branch, a one-mile and 70-yard test for sophomores at Monmouth Park, but the plan as of Thursday is to run in New York.

“He’s going to come to the Peter Pan,” said Linder, Jr. “This distance is one reason why, and the absolute amazement of how mature this horse has gotten over his last two starts.”

The Peter Pan is the traditional prep for the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, which will be contested at a distance of 10-furlongs at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, June 7 as part of the five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. NYRA will waive the entry and starting fees to the Belmont Stakes, excluding the supplemental fee, for the first three finishers in the Peter Pan.

Happily Delusional rallied from last-of-10 for fourth last-out in the nine-furlong Federico Tesio on April 19 at Laurel Park. Prior to that, he was second in an optional-claiming route in March at Parx Racing.

“He has always been like a big kid, goofing off and not paying attention. He has turned a big corner,” said Linder, Jr. “Talent wise where he’ll top out, I don’t know, but I don’t think we are there yet. We will get a better idea on Saturday.”

Happily Delusional made a six-wide rally from 12 lengths back under Dexter Haddock in the Tesio for a 4 1/4-length fourth to Grade 1 Preakness-hopeful Pay Billy. Paco Lopez is named to ride in the Peter Pan, as well as the Butch Reid, Jr.-trained Morning Matcha in Saturday's local Grade 2 Ruffian [cross-entered in Sunday's Serena's Song at Monmouth], while also being booked to ride all 10 races on Saturday at Monmouth.

“When he turned for home he was basically last. He was just too wide,” Linder, Jr. said. 

Happily Delusional graduated fifth-out going one-mile and 70 yards in January at Parx. He was a $50,000 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Purchase, out of the winning Twirling Candy mare Tattersail – a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Marley’s Freedom.

Linder, Jr. also provided an update on Volleyballprincess, who is pointed towards the Grade 3, $150,000 Miss Preakness, a six-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies on May 16, at Pimlico Race Course.

“She is going to breeze tomorrow and if all goes well, she is going to be in the Miss Preakness,” Linder, Jr. said.

The Mo Town bay, who won the seven-furlong Ruthless by 10 lengths in February here, was third last out in the about seven-furlong Grade 2 Beaumont under Eliseo Ruiz on a sloppy and sealed strip April 6 at Keeneland.

“The mud just wasn’t her cup of tea. Eliseo was saying she just made short strides in the mud,” Linder, Jr. explained. “She didn’t have that long, steady stride. She probably still would’ve been third I guess [on a fast track], but maybe we get beat five lengths instead of 10. That doesn’t pay you more, but on a fast track, she is formidable.”

In the February 1 Ruthless, Volleyballprincess won on the lead at odds of 10-1 over stablemate Ourdaydreaminggirl. She exited to a prominent third to subsequent Kentucky Oaks runner-up Drexel Hill in the local one-mile Listed Busher Invitational on March 1 here.

“I don’t think she absolutely has to have the lead. She can sit, but I think we will attempt to make the lead at Pimlico,” Linder, Jr. said. “If someone wants it more, it will depend on where we sit. Hopefully outside that horse. She is forwardly placed for sure, on the lead preferably I think going forward.”

Bred in North Carolina by Dr. Frank Batten, Volleyballprincess was a $17,000 purchase at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the winning Stephen Got Even mare Prom Dress. She is owned by Bran Jam Stable and David Clark.

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On Command earns 86 BSF for Listed License Fee

Lucky Hat Racing and V Hop Racing’s On Command earned a career-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure for her one-length score in Sunday’s Listed $150,000 License Fee, a six-furlong outer turf sprint for older fillies and mares, at Belmont at the Big A.

“She is doing good, bounced out of the race great,” said trainer Amelia Green. “She was back on the track today. I’m very happy with how she came out of it.”

The victory marked the first stakes score for Green, a longtime assistant to Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. The 4-year-old Omaha Beach dark bay was also Green’s first winner in December here on the main track.

“She was the first horse in the barn. She was my first runner, first winner, and now my first stakes-winner,” Green said. “She has definitely exceeded expectations and we are very happy with how she is doing. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

On Command made her first eight starts for previous trainer Rusty Arnold, including two maiden routes on turf, before being purchased for $120,000 at the 2024 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. She has since put together a 5-3-0-1 record for Green, with a successful return to turf in the License Fee.

“The plan was always to try and get her back on turf when turf racing started back up in the spring,” said Green. “We are very lucky that she runs well on both surfaces, and had run well on both surfaces for her trainer before. Putting her back on turf is something we wanted to do, but we had to decide whether to go for the stakes or wait for an allowance race. We decided to take a shot and it worked out.”

The pacesetting score under Katie Davis has put On Command under consideration for the Grade 2, $200,000 Intercontinental, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint on June 5 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

“It is still up in the air, but right now I’d say yes, that is the plan, but we are not committed. I’m letting her come out of the race and a couple of weeks go by before fully committing,” said Green.

Green said a future return to dirt is not out of the question for the versatile On Command.

“She’s now won twice on dirt and once on turf, if we could get her a stakes win on turf and dirt, that, as a broodmare, boosts her value quite a lot,” Green explained. “We are not set in stone in running on turf now, we will keep the options open.”

Bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, On Command is out of First Defence mare Flautist, and her second dam is dual Grade 1-winner Flute, winner of the 2001 Kentucky Oaks.