CNN
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Sovereignty won the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 2025 edition of the longest continuously held major sporting event in the United States featured all of the pomp and pageantry that has become the hallmark of “The Run for the Roses.”
After a slate of preliminary races, American gymnast Simone Biles, an 11-time Olympic medalist, gave the “riders up” call for the jockeys to mount their rides in the paddock.
Moments later, the bugler sounded the call to the post and the horses began to enter the famed Churchill Downs Racetrack as the University of Louisville marching band and choir performed “My Old Kentucky Home.”
After a heavy dose of rain earlier in the day, the 19 horses took to the muddy track in front of 147,406 spectators under cool, overcast conditions.
When the starting gates opened, it was Citizen Bull and Neoequos taking the lead to set the pace early, while the eventual frontrunners found themselves stuck in traffic towards the rear of the pack.
Citizen Bull and Neoequos were joined by American Promise and East Avenue as the leaders raced four-wide down the back stretch.
As the horses raced around the final turn, Journalism and Sovereignty began to impose their wills on the rest of the field. The two horses ran neck-and-neck as they passed the rest of the pack on the outside.
The pair reached the final sixteenth of a mile running nose-to-nose before Sovereignty began to pull ahead, finishing a length and a half ahead of pre-race favorite Journalism.
Baeza, meanwhile, was able to follow the two leaders as they made their push to the front and surged to a third place finish, just a neck behind Journalism.
The three-year-old Sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Venezuelan jockey Junior Alvarado, entered the race as one of the favorites at 9-1 odds to win.
Alvarado, a first-time winner at the Derby, gave all the credit to Sovereignty.
“It was him, Soverignty, who got me all the way to the wire,” Alvarado told the NBC broadcast after the race. “It meant the world to me and my family here, I thought I had a great chance. … I was so confident all week. … It’s more than even a dream come true to have it done with (Mott).”
Mott was appreciative of the atmosphere at Churchill Downs, saying “it’ll take a while to sink in” after getting his second career Derby win.
“This one got there the right way,” Mott said. “He’s done well. He’s a great horse. He’s come from a great organization and I can’t say enough about the horse and the organization that started him out and did everything to make this happen.”
Bob Baffert, a six-time Kentucky Derby winner, made his return to Churchill Downs on Saturday after a three-year absence.
Until last year, the Hall of Famer was banned from running horses at the first leg of the triple crown after his horse Medina Spirit’s failed drug test in 2021.
However, his return wasn’t as successful as he would have hoped after his two horses failed to win.
Citizen Bull finished in 15th while Rodriguez had to withdraw earlier this week due to a bruised foot.
The next leg of horse racing’s triple crown will take place in two weeks at The Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland, followed by the final race on June 7 at the Belmont Stakes. The Belmont Stakes is being held in Saratoga Springs, New York, for the second consecutive year due to ongoing construction the race’s typical venue of Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Jacob Lev contributed to this report.