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Breeders' Cup: Sovereignty lands Classic gold for Godolphin
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sat 31 Oct 2026
Patience proved a virtue as 12 months later than planned, Sovereignty showcased his superiority to land the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland.
Scratched after spiking a temperature only days before last year’s Classic, trainer Bill Mott could only watch on as Forever Young recorded a historic victory for Japan at Del Mar.
This time Sovereignty finally made it to the Classic start line and showed why last year’s Horse of the Year is every inch of a champion, tracking the pace set by stablemate Knightsbridge before Junior Alvarado moved his mount into contention rounding the home turn.
With the defending champion and Knightsbridge struggling to match the stretch acceleration shown by Sovereignty, it was left to The Puma to chase home the convincing winner, who gave Godolphin a first success in the feature event of the end-of-year world championships and Hall of Fame handler Mott a third, after Drosselmeyer in 2011 and the magnificent Cigar in 1995.
Mott said: “The only puzzling race was the Stephen Foster on a very slippery track and on his first run the horse that beat him was a previous Breeders’ Cup winner.
“Then we got to the Whitney and a track he appreciated and he just blew them away and one of them was (Distaff winner) Nitrogen.
“His last work here at Keeneland was very good and I knew if he showed up he would be hard to beat. He’s a one-in-a-lifetime horse that can open up like a train.
“I’m not so sure he wouldn’t have won it last year, but they took a huge risk and made the decision to keep him in training and it all came to fruition. What a great way to end the day.”
Alvarado added: “He broke good like he always does. Coming to the first turn I was in a good place.
“Down the back he was really travelling into the bridle and when I let him go at the three pole I knew nothing could get to him.”
Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock, Godolphin USA, said: “We’ve had several horses run in the Classic before and the boss (Sheikh Mohammed) wants to compete in these races.
“It was so special to have Sovereignty come back to win the Whitney and then win the last race on Breeders’ Cup day, which is the one everyone wants to win.”
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