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Hindustan Times
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Belmont Stakes payout: How much Sovereignty, Journalism and other horses won today. Purse details and more
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty won the 157th Belmont Stakes on Saturday, surging past favored Journalism just as he did at Churchill Downs to finish with two legs of this year's Triple Crown. Sovereignty sat out of the Preakness only to make a stunning return in the last leg, pulling away in the final straight to relegate Journalism to second again. Baeza was third to complete the repeat of the Kentucky Derby one-two-three. With the win, Sovereignty claims a large share of the $2 million purse. The 2025 Belmont Stakes offered a $2 million purse, matching 2024's increase from $1.5 million and equaling the Preakness but trailing the Kentucky Derby's $5 million. The purse was split among the top eight finishers, with 80% typically going to owners, 10% to trainers, and 10% to jockeys. Owners (Godolphin): ~$960,000 Trainer (Bill Mott): ~$120,000 Jockey (Junior Alvarado): ~$120,000 Owners (Eclipse Thoroughbreds et al.): ~$288,000 Trainer (Michael McCarthy): ~$36,000 Jockey (Umberto Rispoli): ~$36,000 Rodriguez: $100,000 Crudo: $80,000 Uncaged: $60,000 Hill Road: $40,000 Heart of Honor: $20,000 Sovereignty, skipping the Preakness for rest, outran Journalism by three lengths in 2:00.69 on a fast track after morning rain dried. Longshots Rodriguez, Uncaged, and Crudo led early, but Sovereignty's late surge, echoing his Derby win, proved decisive. Trainer Bill Mott's strategy to bypass the Preakness made Sovereignty the first horse to win the Derby and Belmont without running the Preakness. Journalism, running all three Triple Crown races, showed fatigue. Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott said he was "on a cloud". "The horse proved himself," McCarthy said. "The form held up -- the first three finishers in the Derby were one-two-three today, and I think it just was a great race."
Los Angeles Times
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Journalism makes strong Kentucky Derby bid by winning San Felipe Stakes
The Kentucky Derby picture got more muddled after the penultimate series of races to determine which horses will make the starting gate at Churchill Downs on May 3. The big winner Saturday was Journalism in the Grade 2 $300,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. The 3-year-old son of Curlin won his third straight race, beating the highly regarded Barnes, who was undefeated in two races going into the San Felipe. Journalism was comfortably rated in the middle of the five-horse field until the top of the stretch where he effortlessly blew past Barnes to win by 1¾ lengths. The remainder of the field, in order of finish, was Barnes, Rodriguez, Mellencamp and Smooth Cruisein. Berlin Wall scratched before the race. 'Obviously it's nice to have a horse on the Triple Crown trail,' said winning trainer Michael McCarthy. 'The connections have had a lot of success, there are some new people involved with the horse. It is always great to have a horse that can take you places and he looks like he is taking himself and everybody else with him. 'I was fairly confident [Saturday]. I wouldn't say I was overly confident, but I thought he was doing well enough to make some noise today. It is a little overwhelming to think of where this horse could go.' Jockey Umberto Rispoli also noted how easily the 3-year-old colt won. 'He is the kind of horse that for the first furlong he needs to adjust himself,' Rispoli said. 'The trip was perfect. I couldn't ask for anything better, once I took him out and pressed the button he put on the beast mode. He ran really strong.' The ownership group is called Eclipse Thoroughbreds, a major player in the sport. 'I always had a lot of confidence in this horse,' said Aron Wellman of the Eclipse group. 'Michael [McCarthy] has done a spectacular job developing him really methodically. I said before this race, this is the battle and we are going for the war on the first [Saturday] of May. We are not taking anything for granted, but to see him continue to be on this upward trajectory has been really special to watch.' Journalism, who paid $8.20 to win, won in his second start and captured everyone's attention with a 3 ½-length win in the Los Alamitos Futurity, his last race on Dec. 14. Because there were only five horses in the race, Journalism only accumulated only 37.5 points as opposed to the 50 points that was allocated to the race winner. This year, Churchill Downs, no doubt in response to the small stakes fields in California, is imposing a points penalty to races with less than six horses. There were two other major Derby prep races on Saturday with Flood Zone winning the Grade 3 $200,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. At almost 18-1, Flood Zone, just transferred to the barn of Brad Cox, won dominant in the stretch going to the front just past the eighth pole to win by 3¼ lengths ahead of favorite Sand Devil. It was a one-turn mile race. He earned 50 points and a virtual ticket to the starting gate of the Derby. At Gulfstream Park in Florida, Sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott, punched his ticket to the Derby with a neck win in the Grade 2 $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes. It was a remarkable last to first over the 1 1/16-mile race. There is one more major prep race before the Derby, highlighted by the Santa Anita Derby, Florida Derby, Blue Grass Stakes, Jeff Ruby Steaks and Wood Memorial. All are worth 100 points to the winner and a rock-solid entrance into the Kentucky Derby. Going into the final prep race, Coal Battle (70 points), winner of four straight, including the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, was on top followed by the Bob Baffert-trained and Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull (60), Sovereignty (60), Flood Zone (50), Journalism (47.5), Getaway Car (36), Built (35), Madaket Road (31), Burnham Square (30) and Sandman (29). Baffert trains Citizen Bull, Getaway Car, Madaket Road as well as Rodriguez (21.25), Barnes (18.75) and Gaming (18). Saturday was a major race card at Santa Anita with several stakes including the Grade 1 $300,000 Santa Anita Handicap. The race was at one time worth $1 million but has dwindled in recent years turning the Big 'Cap into more of a Little 'Cap. A purse of $300,000 is required for a Grade 1 race. Shipping from the East Coast, Locked ($3.40), for trainer Todd Pletcher, won the 1 ¼-mile race for older horses. He won by a commanding 8½ lengths over Express Train, who won the race in 2022. Hit Show was third followed by Midnight Mammoth, J B Strikes Back, Katonah, New King and Mirahmadi.
