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Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sovereignty wins 2025 Kentucky Derby for Bill Mott at Churchill Downs
Sovereignty won the 151st edition of the Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby on Saturday night in Louisville, besting a field of 19 horses beneath the Twin Spires on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs. Trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty went off at 7-1 odds. Post-time favorite Journalism, who went off at 3-1 odds, finished in second place, after being out-dueled in the stretch run by Sovereignty. This means that post-time favorites have now failed to win each of the last seven runnings of the Kentucky Derby. Baeza — who moved into the race as an also-eligible horse — ran third at 13-1 odds. Final Gambit (17-1 odds) was fourth. Sovereignty won the 2025 Kentucky Derby in 2:02.32. The Churchill Downs main track was sloppy Saturday following significant rainfall in recent days. Friday's Kentucky Oaks — won by Good Cheer — was also run on a sloppy track. Sovereignty departed from post position No. 16 in the Derby, becoming the fifth horse from that starting spot to win the Derby. He's the first winner from that post since Animal Kingdom in 2011. Mott, a 71-year-old from South Dakota, now has his second Kentucky Derby win. He won in 2019 with Country House (also on a sloppy track), but that win came following the controversial postrace disqualification of Maximum Security. The 38-year-old Alvarado, who is from Venezuela, now has his first Derby win in his sixth attempt. Sovereignty is a Godolphin homebred. It's the first Derby win for that ownership group. Godolphin also scored a homebred win in Friday's Kentucky Oaks with Good Cheer. Sovereignty's sire is Into Mischief and his mare is Crowned, by Bernardini. Sovereignty is now 3-2-0 in six career starts. The 2025 Derby was won by a true closer in Sovereignty, but the race had an influx of early pace courtesy of Bob Baffert's Citizen Bull, who ran the opening quarter-mile in 22.81 seconds and the opening half-mile in 46.23 seconds. It was 1:10.78 for the first three-fourths of a mile. Neoequos, American Promise and Owen Almighty were also part of this early pace-setting effort. Journalism made a big outside move during the turn for home to move up the field and take the lead from Owen Almighty. But the problem for the race favorite was that Sovereignty was right alongside him. Sovereignty had followed Journalism in moving up through the field on the outside. The two horses were essentially side-by-side entering the stretch run, and Sovereignty beat Journalism straight up in a head-to-head battle in the final furlong. Attendance for the 2025 Kentucky Derby was 147,406. Sovereignty paid $17.96 to win, $7.50 to place and $5.58 to show. Second-place Journalism paid $4.94 and $3.70. Third-place Baeza paid $8.38. Saturday's running of the Kentucky Derby was the first to take place on an off track since 2019, when Country House won the race (following the disqualification of Maximum Security) on a sloppy track. Mott conditioned both Country House, the 2019 winner, and Sovereignty, this year's champion. In fact, Saturday's race was just the 10th running of the Derby (out of 151 of them) to take place on a sloppy track. Three of these have come in the last eight editions of the race. The complete list of Kentucky Derby winners on a sloppy track is: Flying Ebony (1925), Citation (1948), Go for Gin (1994), Smarty Jones (2004), Mine That Bird (2009), Super Saver (2010), Orb (2013), Justify (2018) and Country House (2019), in addition to Sovereignty. Additionally, seven runnings of the Derby have been contested on a muddy track. Those winners were: Riley (1890), Worth (1912), Exterminator (1918), Clyde Van Dusen (1929), Hoop Jr. (1945), Tim Tam (1958) and Sunday Silence (1989). In 2017, Always Dreaming won the Derby over a track that was officially listed as 'wet fast (sealed).' On Friday, a star 3-year-old filly staked her claim with an impressive win in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks. Good Cheer — trained by Louisville native Brad Cox and ridden by Luis Saez — covered 1 1/8 miles on Churchill's sloppy main track to win the 151st running of the Oaks. A Godolphin homebred, Good Cheer topped a field of 13 3-year-old fillies in a winning time of 1:50.15. She won by 2 1/4 lengths. After being set as the overwhelming 6-5 morning-line favorite, Good Cheer also left the Oaks starting gate at those odds. She's now a perfect 7-for-7 in her racing career. Good Cheer delivered Cox his third win in the Kentucky Oaks. He also won the race with Monomoy Girl in 2018 and with Shedaresthedevil in 2020. Saez, the jockey, now has two wins in the Oaks. He was aboard winner Secret Oath in 2022. Curious about what 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is up to? He's still racing, but he's yet to find the winner's circle since his triumph in last year's Run for the Roses. After winning last year's Kentucky Derby, Mystik Dan has now failed to win in each of his last five starts, with his latest defeat coming in the Lake Ouachita Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas on Saturday night. The race, a $200,000, 1 1/16-mile contest for horses aged 4 and older, was a tightly contested showdown between Mystik Dan and odds-on favorite Saudi Crown; Saudi Crown edged the 2024 Derby winner at the last moment, leaving Mystik Dan still in search of his first post-Derby win. Mystik Dan posted a second-place effort in last year's Preakness Stakes, an eighth-place showing in last year's Belmont Stakes, a sixth-place run in the Malibu Stakes in December and a ninth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes in January, prior to Saturday's race. Who is Sovereignty? Meet the 2025 Kentucky Derby winner with these fast facts Godolphin wins its first Kentucky Derby, with a little help from Seattle Slew Sovereignty goes beyond a trainer's wildest dreams by winning Kentucky Derby 151 See the best of 2025 Kentucky Derby fashion: Suits, hats and dresses Our best photos, videos from KY Derby 2025: Sovereignty's win, fashion, celebrities Kentucky Derby 2025 complete order of finish and payoffs at Churchill Downs Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is at the 2025 Kentucky Derby Mystik Dan, last year's Derby winner, seeks first victory since at Oaklawn Park
Forbes
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Will Howells Secures A Rare Triple Crown At The Association Of Pickleball Players Fort Lauderdale Open
Howells joins an elite list of players who have Triple Crowned on the APP. The Association of Pickleball Players (APP) held its first 'major' tournament of the year this past weekend at its Fort Lauderdale 'The Fort' headquarters. Nearly 1,000 pros and amateurs descended on the facility, which also houses the sport's first ever dedicated youth and teaching academy. By the end of the weekend, we'd seen something we haven't seen on tour in a couple years; a male Triple Crown winner. We also saw something we haven't seen perhaps since the dawn of the tour: a gold medal winner in their tour debut. Exciting times for the APP. Click here for the home page for the event, where you can get tournament details, draw sheets, and results. Well, they say to be the best, you have to beat the best. Christopher Haworth had won the last eight (8) straight APP Pro Singles titles, but he could not stretch that streak to nine at the APP's headquarters. Will Howells, who has just one prior APP singles gold, has been mired with tough early-round matchups and has struggled to get to the podium for months. However, he had his breakthrough, topping Howells in the semis with relative ease 9,8 to earn his second gold medal match in the last three events. There, he met Grayson Goldin, who made his sixth gold medal match in the past calendar year. Goldin last won a gold in Cincinnati in May, but could not hold back Howells on this day. The pair split the first two games in close 15-13 fashion before Howells tore away in the decider 15-5. Other notable results included Irizarry getting a very early upset of top-4 seed DeHeart and Dusty Boyer downing Purple Jesus Manthou to earn a rare quarterfinal appearance. Gold: Will Howells. Silver: Grayson Goldin. Bronze: Christopher Haworth Kao stuns the field and wins in her pro debut. The Women's singles draw was rocked early when former touring tennis pro Katerina 'Kat' Stewart ousted No. 1 seed Megan Fudge in the 16s. Stewart fell in the subsequent round to the new phenom Sofia Sewing, but it should be interesting to see where the current No. 18 ranked pro can go. The story of this draw however was the performance of Taiwan star Pei Chuan Kao, who has been a fixture in Indian events and MLP Australia for months now and who was playing in her first known US-based event. Kao opened with a win over No. 11 Seed Klokotzky, then downed the legendary No. 6 seed Jardim, both in three. In the quarters she ousted the No. 3 Seed Hendry, then handled fellow upset-minded Warren in the semis to secure an unlikely spot in the finals. In the final, Kao did the unthinkable, beating the two-time defending champ Sewing in two games 15-11, 17-15 to win perhaps the most unlikely gold medal in APP history. Gold: Pei Chuan Kao. Silver: Sofia Sewing. Bronze: Judit Castillo Erik Lange, who had never medaled in Mixed in his APP career, teamed with the formerly unknown Kao and went on a spirited run through the draw. They met their end in the semis at the hands of the No. 2 Seeds Megan Fudge & Jack Munro, who were trying to get back to the winner's circle for the fourth time as a team. Meanwhile, the top dogs and defending APP event champs No. 1 Will Howells and Bobbi Oshiro made fast work of their competition and secured the Sunday final from the topside of the bracket. In the final, Howells & Oshiro dominated Fudge & Munro 4,6 to give Howells his second gold medal on the day. Gold: Howells & Oshiro. Silver: Fudge & Munro. Bronze: Braverman & Schenk The No. 1 seeds Will Howells & Jack Munro emerged from the top half of an upset-laden draw that saw the defending silver medalists and No. 2 seeds Lange & Manthou get destroyed in the round of 32 at the hands of Max Green & Jordan Chrysostom 11-1, 11-9. Similarly, the No. 3 seeds DeHeart & Livornese were ousted in the 16s by the No. 14 seeds William Sobek and Eduardo Irizarry, who then continued their run to the final from a depleted bottom side. In the gold medal match, Howells & Munro were not to be stopped, crushing the underdogs 11-0 in game one and then holding on for a 13-11 game two win and the title. It's Munro's fifth Men's Pro doubles title in the last year, but more importantly the win sealed a rare feat; the Triple Crown for Will Howells. Howells becomes the 5th ever man to win a triple crown on the APP tour, following in the footsteps of Ben Johns (Sept 2020 and Mar 2021), Jay Devilliers (Aug 2021), JW Johnson (three Triple Crowns between March and August 2022), and Zane Navratil (May 2022). Gold: Howells & Munro. Silver: Sobek & Irizarry. Bronze: Barrientos & Kawka. Newell (L) and Cederquist win in Fort Lauderdale. Singles titlist Kao's gender doubles run ended early in the round of 16, at the hands of Sofia Sewing and Shelby Bates. Sewing and Bates weren't done; they turned around the next round and took out the top seeds Fudge & Braverman in three. This opened a pathway from the topside for the legend Simone Jardim to cruise into the final with partner Amanda Hendry. From the bottom side, favorites and No. 3 seeds Susannah Barr & Bobbi Oshiro were shocked 11-0, 11-9 in the round of 16 by Florida teenager Alexa Schull, partnered with Leah Tauber. They made it to the semis before falling, a solid showing. In the final, Jardim & Hendry met No 2. seeds Emily Cederquist & Yana Newell, who have quietly risen the rankings and now sit individually No. 3 and No. 6 on tour. Cederquist & Newell took the title 6,10, their first gold medal together since July 2024. Gold: Cederquist & Newell. Silver: Jardim & Hendry. Bronze: Sewing & Bates. The Pro Pickleball Medal Tracker has now been updated with these results; check out this link online for a complete pro medal history for all tours and all pro events dating to the beginnings of all the major pro tours, plus pro events that predated 2020. Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, Collegiate Nationals are this coming weekend, along with a Golden Ticket event at Legacy Park in Mesa, a site that's been in the news this week thanks to fraud indictments against its founders. After Next up for the APP? The Vlasic Classic in Cincinnati the second weekend of May.
