May 3 (UPI) -- Sovereignty rallied by Journalism in deep stretch Saturday to win the 151st Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2 lengths, giving Dubai-based Godolphin its first victory in the Run for the Roses and a weekend international trifecta of top-level Classic victories.
Sovereignty, last seen finishing second in the Grade I Florida Derby, raced well back in the 19-horse field until the final turn, when last year's 2-year-old champion, Citizen Bull, began to fade from the lead.
The Godolphin homebred colt, a son of Into Mischief, turned into the stretch and, as the field straightened out for the long run to the finish, saw only Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism ahead of him.
With Junior Alvarado riding, Sovereignty wore down that rival and was kicking clear as he crossed the finish line.
Baeza, the Santa Anita Derby runner-up who got into the Kentucky Derby at the last moment thanks to a late scratch, also rallied late to finish third, another 1/4 length back. Final Gambit, previously raced on all-weather tracks, was fourth and Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty finished fifth.
The 1 1/4 miles on a sloppy track took 2:02.31.
It was the first Derby win for both Alvarado and for Godolphin, the racing and breeding entity of Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, who entered the race winless in 13 tries.
It was trainer Bill Mott's second Derby win but the first came on the disqualification of Maximum Security in 2019, which boosted Country House to the title.
"This one got there the right way," Mott said. "He's done well. He's a great horse. He comes from a great organization. ... I couldn't have hoped for him to be doing anything differently. I mean, if I had to make a wish and want something different, I couldn't have thought what it was."
Mott said he lost track of Sovereignty, one of two Godolphin runners in the 19-horse field, before he made his big move.
"I saw him gearing up when he left the half-mile pole," he said. "He started to pick up some momentum and I lost him a little bit between the half mile and the three-eighths. I mean, he made up a lot of ground in a hurry."
Michael Banahan, Godolphin's U.S. representative, celebrated the Derby win along with the victory Friday of Good Cheer in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks and, earlier Saturday, Godolphin's Ruling Court in the Group 1 English 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, the first of the European Classics -- an unprecedented triple.
"It's a race that we always wanted to win," Banahan said of the Kentucky Derby as he stood on the infield winner's circle. "Godolphin likes to compete in all the best races around the world, be it the Epsom Derby, the Melbourne Cup, Dubai World Cup and, eventually, the Kentucky Derby.
"So, we're so grateful to be here, standing up here, looking at the Twin Spires from this side, rather than from over there. It's a great feeling.
"It was a wonderful horse race. You've got the two best horses, one from the East Coast, one from the West Coast, locking down there, not one of them giving an inch, right down to the wire, just before we eventually got the better of Journalism. It was a fantastic race.
The natural question is whether Sovereignty will progress to the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the U.S. Triple Crown, at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore in two weeks' time.
"We'll see how he comes out of the race," Banahan said. "We'll see what the Hall of Fame trainer wants to do. It's the logical place to go and we'd love to come back and try to win the Preakness."
Mott, the "Hall of Fame trainer," said, "The pressure is on now to go. Had he not won, maybe you wouldn't feel obligated to do it. We'll try to do the right thing."
Mott and Sheik Mohammed go back about as far as possible in the racing world. Mott trained Cigar, the winner of the inaugural Dubai World Cup in 1996, putting His Highness' signature race on the global map.
Still, Sheik Mohammed will have the final say on plans for his first Derby winner.
Read More Kentucky Derby horses face wet track on race day; fans face a wide-open field Good Cheer remains undefeated with imposing win in Kentucky Oaks Kentucky Derby picture shifts with late scratch of Rodriguez, entry of Baeza