Sovereignty the one to beat in G2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun

Godolphin’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes-winning homebred Sovereignty is the one to beat in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, at Saratoga Race Course. 

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the Into Mischief bay rated just off the pace under Junior Alvarado in the 10-furlong Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 7 here, coming with a wide bid to defeat Journalism by three lengths, with returning rival Baeza rounding out the trifecta – the same order of finish as in the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs. 

In the Kentucky Derby, Sovereignty closed from 16th to run down and defeat Journalism by 1 1/2 lengths over a sloppy and sealed 10 furlongs. He earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for the Derby, which he improved to a career and field-best 109 in the Belmont.

Sovereignty remained at Saratoga after the Belmont and wrapped up his Jim Dandy preparations with a solo half-mile breeze in 49.82 seconds on July 19 over the Oklahoma dirt training track.

“He’s doing good,” said Mott. “His work went well. He looked good after. We haven’t had any major issues at all.”

Mott, who has won this event with Chief Honcho [1990], Composer [1995], Favorite Trick [1998] and Good Samaritan [2017], refuses to underestimate this race.

“We hope he has a good race and has a little luck. Anything can happen,” said Mott. “They’ve got to go around there, and it’s not over until those blinking lights say ‘official.’ They’ve got to hang those numbers up and say official.” 

The Jim Dandy serves as the major local prep for the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers on August 23, which Mott has never won. 

“Absolutely, that has been the goal,” Mott said. “It is just a matter of how you get there.”

Sovereignty has banked in excess of $4.8 million via a 7-4-2-0 record, also capturing the Grade 3 Street Sense as a juvenile maiden in his third start at Churchill Downs and the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in March at Gulfstream Park. 

Sovereignty [post 5, Junior Alvarado, 124 pounds] is out of the unraced Bernardini mare Crowned. His second dam is Mushka, who Mott trained to win the 2009 Grade 1 Spinster. Godolphin has won the Jim Dandy with Mystic Guide [2020], as well as subsequent Travers-winners Alpha [2012, dead-heated with Golden Ticket in the Travers] and Essential Quality [2021]. 

C R K Stable and breeder Grandview Equine’s Baeza [post 1, Hector Berrios, 120 pounds] closed to finish third beaten 6 1/2 lengths by Sovereignty in the Belmont. Trained by John Shirreffs, the McKinzie bay’s margin of defeat was 1 3/4 lengths when making a similar late run in the “Run for the Roses,” where he exited the outermost 19th post under Flavien Prat. 

“I didn’t think he ran his best race in the Belmont,” said Shirreffs. “Talking to Prat after the race, he said it took him a long time to engage down the backside. You can see that he had to ride pretty hard from maybe the half-mile pole all the way to the wire. I think he can run better than that.” 

Baeza, named for 1969 Jim Dandy-winning Hall of Fame jockey Braulio Baeza, previously finished a three-quarter-length second to Journalism in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 5 at its namesake oval.

“This will be a tough race with Sovereignty in there, but this is a logical place for Baeza to run,” Shirreffs said. 

Baeza, a $1.2 million purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is a half-brother to last year’s Belmont and Haskell-winner Dornoch and 2023 Kentucky Derby-winner Mage, out of the graded stakes-placed Big Brown mare Puca.

D. J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables’ Grade 1-winner Sandman [post 2, Jose Ortiz, blinkers ON, 124 pounds] will be equipped with blinkers after a last-out 2 3/4-length closing third to Journalism in the Grade 1 Preakness on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course. 

Trained by Dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the Tapit gray closed to win the nine-furlong Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in March at Oaklawn Park ahead of a rallying seventh in the Kentucky Derby and his Preakness third, where 1-2 finishers Journalism and Gosger recently finished in that order again in the the Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell on July 19 at Monmouth Park.

“He’s doing well and it was good to see Journalism win and Gosger run well in the Haskell,” said Casse. “Obviously, Sovereignty is going to be tough to beat, but we are going to give it a try.” 

Sandman boasts a 10-3-1-3 record with over $1.4 million in earnings, graduating second-out sprinting seven furlongs in August in his lone Spa start.

He has worked in blinkers since returning to the tab in June here and will sport them on Saturday afternoon.

“I’m hoping the blinkers don’t take some of his punch away, but you never know until you try,” Casse said. “We are looking for a good effort in the Jim Dandy, something to propel us to the Travers.” 

Sandman, a $1.2 million purchase from the 2024 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training out of the winning Distorted Humor mare Distorted Music, is a half-brother to Grade 3-winner She Can’t Sing. His second dam, Music Room, is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winner Music Note, the dam of Group 1-victor and 2020 Jim Dandy-winner Mystic Guide. 

R and H Stable’s New York-bred Mo Plex [post 3, Manny Franco, 122 pounds] made his first seven starts around one turn but stretched out to nine furlongs last out to win the Grade 3 Ohio Derby on June 21 at Thistledown. Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, the Complexity bay stalked the pace in second under Joseph Ramos and pounced to the lead in the stretch to defeat the favored Kentucky Derby-alum Chunk of Gold by two lengths. 

“I thought he ran well, obviously, but I was actually even more impressed with his gallop-out,” said Englehart. “I don’t feel like distance is going to be an issue moving forward. I think that is what he wants to do.”

Mo Plex earned a career-best 96 Beyer, and his fourth stakes win to go along with the Grade 3 Sanford and state-bred Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital at six furlongs last summer here, as well as the seven-furlong Listed Bay Shore two starts back at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

“Now he has this test of taking on the top 3-year-olds in the game,” said Englehart. “I’m confident that he can run his race and if he’s good enough, then he’s good enough. I don’t look at it like ‘we need this, or we need that to happen in order to win,’ let him run his race.” 

Never off the board, Mo Plex boasts an 8-5-1-2 record with $745,000 in earnings. He was bred by Everything’s Cricket Racing out of the unraced Uncle Mo mare Mo Joy, and was a $45,000 purchase at last year’s OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

Rounding out the field is Amo Racing USA’s Hill Road [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 122 pounds], who closed for fifth in the Belmont for five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown. He previously rallied to win the nine-furlong Grade 3 Peter Pan on May 10 at Belmont at the Big A, the traditional New York-prep for the Belmont. 

The Quality Road bay completed his last two breezes in company with 4-year-old Sierra Leone, the reigning Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic-winner and Champion 3-Year-Old Colt. The pair covered a half-mile over the main track in 48.85 seconds on July 13 and 49 flat on July 19.  

Hill Road’s lone other start for Brown was a third when adding blinkers in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby in March. He made his first three outings for trainer Adrian Murray, capped with a third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November at Del Mar after a pair of turf outings in Ireland. 

The Jim Dandy is slated as Race 10 on Saturday’s 12-race card, which also includes the Grade 3 Lake George presented by Surfside in Race 9. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern. 

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