Sometimes a rivalry falls short of the hype. But no such thing happened Saturday at Saratoga Race Course when in almost a repeat of the Kentucky Derby, Sovereignty ran past Journalism in mid-stretch to win the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes.
The conversation would have been quite different if Sovereignty had run in the Preakness Stakes and won. If that were the case he would have been the 14th winner of the Triple Crown.
Rodriguez and Crudo, as expected, were the front runners going into the first turn of the 1 1/4-mile race. But as the horses went down the backstretch Journalism started to get engaged with Sovereignty close by. Entering the homestretch, Journalism poked his head in front as Rodriguez began to fall back. Sovereignty was working his way to the outside of Journalism a