Sovereignty lands Classic gold for Godolphin

Patience proved a virtue as 12 months later than planned, Sovereignty showcased his superiority to land the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland.

Scratched after spiking a temperature only days before last year’s Classic, trainer Bill Mott could only watch on as Forever Young recorded a historic victory for Japan at Del Mar.

This time Sovereignty finally made it to the Classic start line and showed why last year’s Horse of the Year is every inch of a champion, tracking the pace set by stablemate Knightsbridge before Junior Alvarado moved his mount into contention rounding the home turn.

With the defending champion and Knightsbridge struggling to match the stretch acceleration shown by Sovereignty, it was left to The Puma to chase home the convincing winner, who gave Godolphin a first success in the feature event of the end-of-year world championships and Hall of Fame handler Mott a third, after Drosselmeyer in 2011 and the magnificent Cigar in 1995.