Pedigree Profile: Sovereignty
Godolphin gets their roses with a homebred in the 2025 Derby
Sovereignty reigned supreme in the 2025 Kentucky Derby, giving his sire his third Kentucky Derby winner but his first to cross the wire first on the first Saturday in May. Coincidentally, this was also trainer Bill Mott’s first time training a Kentucky Derby winner who crossed the wire first, as his first Derby-winning trainee was Country House, who was elevated to first after the disqualification of Maximum Security in 2019. Junior Alvarado was aboard for his first win in the Derby.
Sovereignty’s Kentucky Derby also a first in America’s most prestigious race for the legendary Godolphin Racing, an operation that had been chasing the roses for decades prior to this victory, and was the highlight of an outstanding weekend for that stable, as they also captured their second Kentucky Oaks with Good Cheer and sixth 2,000 Guineas with Ruling Court. Like Sovereignty, both Good Cheer and Ruling Court are homebreds.
Sovereignty is the third foal to race out of his dam, Crowned, whose two other foals to race (both full sisters to Sovereignty) have only a single maiden special weight victory in 15 starts between them. Godolphin purchased Crowned for $1.2 million as a yearling, and while she never raced, she has justified that price tag by giving the legendary stable their first Kentucky Derby winner.
Crowned was a daughter of G1 winner Mushka, herself a $1.6 million yearling who was a graded stakes winner on both dirt and turf. By Empire Maker and out of the stakes winning Seeking the Gold mare Sluice, her most successful foal was the stakes placed Ghostzapper filly Whenthedawnbreaks.
Sluice was out of the Seattle Slew mare Lakeway, a four-time G1 winner as a three-year-old who finished second in the Kentucky Oaks and was placed in both the G1 Beldame and Breeders’ Cup Distaff at four. In addition to Sluice, she produced Kentucky Oaks third-place finished Flying Spur, graded stakes placed Front Range, and stakes placed In Excelsis. This Comely Nell branch of Lowe family 9f is responsible for a total of 13 G1 winners, although Sovereignty is only the fifth since 2011, joining the likes of Spinaway Stakes winner Grace Hall, Woody Stephens winner Drain the Clock, Vosburgh Stakes winner Giant Ryan, and Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup winner Together.
Sovereignty is his sire’s first G1 winner from Lowe family 9f, but he has sired a number of elite runners from this female family, including multiple graded stakes winners Vicar’s In Trouble and Go Google Yourself. He is the sire of two G1 winners from the genetically identical family 9e - 2025 Kentucky Derby starter Citizen Bull and Florida Derby winner Audible. Also notable is the fact that Into Mischief crosses very well with a very prominent member of family 9f in Distorted Humor, who shares the distant tail-female ancestor Colonial with Sovereignty.
Sovereignty has a fairly low 8-generation inbreeding coefficient of 1.5%, with the only repeated ancestors within five generations coming on his dam’s side - she was inbred 3x4 to Seattle Slew and 4x4 to Fappiano. He does not have any ancestors repeated between his sire and dam until the sixth generation, with 6x5 inbreeding to Secretariat, four crosses of Northern Dancer in the sixth generation (two on each side of the pedigree), and 6x6 inbreeding to Raise a Native.
Sovereignty is an exciting young horse for Godolphin and Bill Mott, and with a solid pedigree behind him and a band of Godolphin mares in his future, I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for this colt both on and off the track.