Sovereignty by a neck in the Fountain of Youth (Coglianese)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Godolphin’s Sovereignty made a last-to-first sweep to overtake previously undefeated River Thames nearing the finish of Saturday’s $415,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park.
The son of Into Mischief, who closed out his 2-year-old season with a victory in the Oct. 27 Street Sense (G3) at Churchill Downs, stamped himself as a most promising prospect for the Triple Crown campaign while winning his 2025 debut by a neck.
The 79th running of the 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds offered qualifying points for the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale.
Sovereignty ($8.40) settled into stride as Neoequos was rushed out of the starting gate by Irad Ortiz Jr. to challenge River Thames for the lead and take early command entering the backstretch. Neoequos set fractions of 23.12 and 47.07 seconds for the first half mile while the long-striding Sovereignty continued to trail the six-horse field. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez asked River Thames and the son of Maclean’s Music put in his challenge to the pacesetter on the far turn. Meanwhile, jockey Junior Alvarado also asked Sovereignty for his run, and the strapping colt responded, making a three-wide sweep to loom boldly while passing a struggling 9-5 favorite Burnham Square.
Neoequos maintained a lead at the top of the stretch before River Thames changed leads and took charge in mid-stretch, only to be caught late by the fast-closing Sovereignty.
“It was a great run. He had a good trip. We had a good post inside, saved some ground on the first turn,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “Fortunately, we didn’t get an outside post and have to be wide on the first turn. He saved some ground, he was able to tip out, and he’s got some acceleration.”
Sovereignty, who broke his maiden in his third career start in the Street Sense, ran 1 1/16-miles in 1:43.12 to provide Alvarado with his second Fountain of Youth win, joining Mohaymen (2016)
“I was just trying to give him a good race,” Alvarado said. “We’ve been running second and third and I wanted to make sure he could finish. At the three-eighths pole I found myself trying to save ground, but I don’t think the inside’s the best place to be, so I thought, ‘let me lose a little ground here and put him on the outside.’ I was already riding him a little bit and when I put him in the clear, it seemed like everything came back to his head and he turned it on. After that it was like, ‘I hope we get there in time,’ and he did. He kept grinding his way there. He’s such a nice horse.”
The $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) March 29 at Gulfstream is a strong possibility for Sovereignty’s next start on the Triple Crown trail.
“We got one under our belt and now we get with the team and see where we go. I guess it’s a good thing that we’ve shown that we can run over the track,” Mott said. “Naturally, [the Florida Derby] is on the list of things to be considered very strongly.”
WinStar Farm LLC and CHC Inc.’s River Thames, the 2-1 second betting choice, was making his stakes debut in the Fountain of Youth following a pair of dominating races to launch his career during Gulfstream’s Championship Meet.
“He kind of got to looking around a little bit late. [Jockey] Johnny [Velazquez] said he was looking at the screen and just got a little bit complacent on the lead. He showed that he’s still maturing.” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We actually got a perfect trip, stalking the horse that we thought would show speed. We were able to put him away and it looked like he was maybe home, and I think he got a little complacent. The winner ran a very good race.”
River Thames finished 2 ½ lengths clear of Neoequos, who finished a neck ahead of Burnham Square, the impressive Holy Bull (G3) winner last time out who was never a factor in the Fountain of Youth.
“He didn’t break that good, like always. Last time [in the Holy Bull], he made a nice move on the backstretch. But today he wasn’t there. He’s just still learning. It looked like in the turn he was going nowhere. But all of a sudden when I got him back to the outside, he really picked it up again,” said Burnham Square’s jockey Edgard Zayas. “At the end he just got beat by two lengths, I think. He didn’t get beat by much. I thought, ‘wow, if he had given me this from the turn going into the stretch.’ He definitely needs more distance and a longer stretch. Last time it was probably a weaker field. But he’s going to keep improving.”
