Throw whatever challenge you want at Sovereignty, and the thoroughbred will make sure to return your money’s worth. With five wins in its last six starts, the Bill Mott-trained colt is looking to be in the form of a lifetime. Naturally, with the G1 Travers Stakes coming up in August, the Hall of Fame trainer thinks this is the best time to win the upcoming $1.25 million race. And Mott has reasons to be optimistic, too.

Despite all his accolades and achievements, the Travers Stakes remains the one race that still eludes Mott. But thanks to Sovereignty’s two back-to-back wins at the Saratoga racecourse, the celebrity racehorse trainer hopes to return to the iconic venue next month to bag his first win at the event. “It is a race I’ve never won, and I’d really like to win it before I check out,” Bill said last Saturday after Into Mischief’s son won the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes. This time around, he finally aims to set the record straight.

An article by Times Union from July 28 shares how Mott is feeling the excitement ahead of the Grade 1 August race. With Sovereignty being extremely familiar with Saratoga by winning both the Belmont Stakes and the Jim Dandy, the trainer believes this could be his best shot at winning the Travers. “It’s probably our best chance so far to do it. I’ve gone into it with some chances before, but this would have to be the biggest chance,” Mott said with high hopes.

Last Saturday, Sovereignty defeated Baeza, who placed third in both the first and third jewels of this year’s Triple Crown, by a length. But there was a tense moment in the race when Sovereignty ceded his position to Baeza and was, in fact, in last position for a few strides. With the horse showing that even a subpar performance by his standards is good enough to keep a horse like Baeza at bay, Mott can’t help but head into the Travers with a heaving heart. “Now the expectations are high, so it’s one of those situations where as long as he’s running well, he’s always going to be one of the favorites. Everybody’s expectations are high,” Mott told Times Union.

The trend is in Mott and Sovereignty’s favor as well. Three of the last four Jim Dandy Stakes winners have clinched a spot on the top of the podium at the Travers as well. Then again, broaden your horizons by a few decades more, and you’d see that the task is easier said than done. From 2000 to 2020, “only six Jim Dandy winners went on to win the Mid-Summer Derby,” the Monday article notes. Quite the challenge, indeed! For Mott, though, it now looks like a hurdle he needs to jump over.

Mott has come close to winning the race before with Vision and Verse, Hold Me Back, and Tacitus. But this time, things surely look better than ever. In the past few months, Sovereignty once again put Mott on the highest horse racing throne imaginable. Winning the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, the horse is now making Bill believe that the elusive Travers title can finally bear his name. But it won’t be an easy task.

Sovereignty won’t have a hall pass at the Travers

After keeping Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado on their toes at the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes, and the Jim Dandy Stakes, Baeza could be back at the Travers. Goes without saying, the son of Puca will once again bring his A-game to the Saratoga race track next month. The Travers is also expected to have a field which includes Gosger, the Brendan Walsh-trainer colt who finished both this year’s Preakness Stakes and the Haskell Stakes in second place. But they are only part of Mott’s potential problem.

Iconic horse racing trainer and 17 Triple Crown race-winning Bob Baffert is thinking about entering Goal Oriented and Nevada Beach at the 2025 Travers Stakes. The SF Racing LLC-c0-owned horse finished fourth at Pimlico and third at last Saturday’s Haskell Stakes. With so many A-listers, fans can rest assured that the G1 race will be one to remember. But still, the possible absence of one special horse will be felt deeply.

This year’s Triple Crown gave rise to a scintillating rivalry between Sovereignty and Journalism. Bill Mott’s celebrity horse defeated the Michael McCarthy-trained Journalism in both the Derby and the Belmont Stakes, and fans can’t wait to see the next chapter of their thrilling competition. However, as of now, it seems like jockey Umberto Rispoli and Journalism won’t be heading to the Travers, and might instead wait for the son of Into Mischief at the Breeders’ Cup.

With one less competitor to hold off against, how good do you think Sovereignty’s chances are of bringing the Travers trophy Mott’s way?