SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Another apocalyptic rainstorm hit Saratoga early Saturday morning but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who watched his dual classic winner Sovereignty nearly beat the rain while putting in a solid workout in preparation for the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes here on July 26.
Sovereignty was the first one on the Oklahoma training track when it re-opened following the 7:30 a.m. renovation break and, accompanied by Mott aboard the stable pony, got his warm-up in before meeting up with his workmate, Jefferson Street around the far turn. The two broke into a gallop on their way to the five-furlong pole with Sovereignty, under exercise rider Neil Poznansky, a length in front of Jefferson Street and rider Felipe Castro.
Over a track that would likely have been rated good, Sovereignty went in splits of 13.31 seconds, 25.77, and 37.92 for the opening three furlongs. Sovereignty came three paths wide into the lane, Jefferson Street came up alongside him and the two basically finished together, getting their final quarter in 24.14 seconds for a final time of 1:02.06 for five furlongs. Sovereignty continued out six furlongs in 1:15.59 and seven in 1:29.56.
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“That’ll work, won’t it?,” Mott said when told the final quarter, adding that the final time of 1:02.06 “is a credible work on this racetrack. As we stand here and speak at this particular moment, 8:50 on Saturday July 12th, I’m good with him.”
Saturday was Sovereignty’s third workout since his victory in the Belmont Stakes here on June 8, which followed his win in the Kentucky Derby five weeks earlier. In each of his last two works, Mott has put Sovereignty in front of Jefferson Street, saying that if they broke off together and went head-to-head, then Sovereignty might do too much. Jefferson Street is a 4-year-old who finished second in the Grade 2 Amsterdam last year and is eligible for a second-level allowance race.
“Just keep him honest in the work, give him the feel of some competition,” Mott said about the way in which the work was conducted. “I thought about putting [Jefferson Street] in front of him today, but the other horse can get pretty speedy being out in front and he’s a pretty good horse in his own right. I just felt that if Neil was in front and he was controlling the pace, it’d be the type of work I wanted. Felipe did a great job on the other horse, he came up to him and joined him and they finished up nicely for both of them.”
The work was completed before the heaviest of the rain fell which turned the Oklahoma track into a sloppy mess.
“I got out on a good racetrack, we got lucky,” Mott said. “We had some rain, but the track was good right after that break. We stayed [off the rail] which it was good out there, it was a little rough down inside, but they stayed on the good part of the track.”
Sovereignty will likely have one more work, likely by himself, next week before he runs in the Jim Dandy, the local prep for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 23. The Jim Dandy field is expected to include Baeza, third in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont, Ohio Derby winner Mo Plex, Peter Pan winner Hill Road, and Arkansas Derby winner Sandman.
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