Sovereignty Joins Rare Triple Crown Club with Belmont Stakes Win

Before the Belmont Stakes was to be run on June 7, 2025, all the narratives were centered around one thing: the showdown between Sovereignty and Journalism. One of them was the Kentucky Derby winner. The other won the Preakness Stakes, the 2nd leg of the 2025 Triple Crown races. After the Belmont race was over, Sovereignty completed his double, once again finishing ahead of Journalism, like in the Kentucky Derby. But something very unique happened, which we saw but didn’t exactly pay attention to until now.

Did you know Baeza finished third in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont? And thus, a unique chronicle of the thoroughbred trifecta was seen in the 2025 Triple Crown. Horse Racing Nation editor Ron Flatter posted a tweet on June 11 that highlighted an incident that occurred during the 2025 Triple Crown races. His caption read, “This year marked the 4th time there was a repeat trifecta in the #TripleCrown series.”

Underneath, he shared a pic showing the instances and the horses that have been part of this unique occurrence. In 1953, the repeat trifecta was seen in the Preakness Stakes and Belmont, with Native Dancer winning both races. Behind him followed Jamie K., Royal Bay Gem, and Ram o’ War in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places, respectively. Yep, this was not just a trifecta. That was a quadfecta, or, in horse racing terms, it was a superfecta.

In 1973, Secretariat, Sham, and Our Native finished top 3 in that order in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Let’s not forget that Secretariat is the legendary Triple Crown winner. Moving on to 1978, it was the Derby and Preakness again that saw the repeat trifecta. Affirmed, Alydar, and Believe It were part of the rare history. And then, after 47 years of waiting, we have a repeat trifecta again.

Bill Mott‘s Sovereignty trumped the hot favorite, Journalism, in both the Derby and the Belmont. Behind them, Baeza, a John Shirreffs trainee, completed the repeat trifecta. At the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2025, a sloppy track saw Journalism struggle as jockey Junior Alvarado guided Sovereignty to win the 1 1/4-mile race by one and a half lengths. In the Belmont, Sovereignty would win by 3 lengths. The two wins have established him as a front-runner in the Horse of the Year race.

This year marked the 4th time there was a repeat trifecta in the #TripleCrown series. pic.twitter.com/Do4ApgF2NW

— Ron Flatter (@ronflatter) June 11, 2025

It could have been quite different, though, if Baeza had managed to catch up with Journalism in the Derby. Eventually, Michael McCarthy’s colt held on to win by 1.25 lengths. At the Belmont, however, the gap was quite convincing, with Baeza finishing three and a half lengths behind Journalism, who was ridden by Umberto Rispoli.

We will have to wait and watch when we get to see something like this. It’s just a manifestation of how consistent these 3 particular thoroughbreds are. And it definitely sees Sovereignty become part of a special list.

Sovereignty has managed to do something last done in 1995

When the Godolphin-owned horse won the Belmont in 2025, everyone started talking about one thing. What if his trainer hadn’t pulled him from the Preakness on May 17? Yes, the 3-year-old colt who has career earnings of $4,872,800 was rested for the 2nd leg of the race. Yet, he has managed to do something that only Thunder Gulch did in 1995: win the Derby and Belmont legs of the Triple Crown in a single year.

Mind you, we are not considering the Triple Crown winners American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018). Just those two legs of the Triple Crown had been last won in 1995. In fact, the last time a horse did the Kentucky Derby and Preakness double was in 2014, when California Chrome won, with Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza in the saddle.

The only horse who could stop Sovereignty from becoming a part of the record books was Journalism. The Curlin-sired colt would have then won the Preakness-Belmont double. The last time that happened was in 2005 when Afleet Alex finished third in the Derby but won the remaining 2 legs of the Triple Crown races.

Do you think there is any horse that can stop Sovereignty from winning the 2025 Horse of the Year award? Let us know in the comments!

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