In 2019, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott gained a first Kentucky Derby (G1) with Country House , by dint of disqualification for interference. In 2025, Sovereignty, by dint of superior performance, gave him his second. By strange coincidence this pair both go back in tail-female line to the same imported mare, The Apple.
Brought to America in 1893, The Apple owned the distinction of being a product of one of the most important combinations in the history of the Thoroughbred, that of the 1867 Epsom Derby winner Hermit with daughters and granddaughters of Maid Of Masham, a top-class runner who won 22 of 36 starts in the mid-1850s.
Those Hermit/Maid Of Masham's descendants produced mares that are the ancestresses of numerous important horses including Cyllene (who through his grandson, Phalaris, is in the male line of more than 90% of all modern Thoroughbreds, Sovereignty among them), Fair Play (sire of Man o' War); Fair Play's 1916 Belmont Stakes-winning half brother Friar Rock; Star Shoot, five-time leading sire in North America; Asterus and Prince Chevalier, both champion sire in France; United States champion 3-year-old male Tom Rolfe and his half brother Chieftain, both sires; Alchimist, champion sire in Germany; and in more recent times the stellar half brothers Galileo and Sea The Stars.
One major sire from this family we've not yet mentioned is Calumet Farm's great stallion Bull Lea, a five-time leading sire who was out of The Apple's great-granddaughter Rose Leaves (Rose Leaves' second dam, Thankful Blossom, is a half sister to Cider, the ancestress of Country House, and also to One I Love, ancestress of another foundation mare, Bourtai).
It was La Venganza, a half sister Rose Leaves, that produced another Calumet celebrity in the shape of 1924 co-champion 3-year-old filly Nellie Morse, one of only six fillies to capture the Preakness Stakes. The first classic winner on the route from The Apple to Sovereignty, Nellie Morse was to be far from the last. Bred to American Flag (a grandson of Fair Play, so bringing in another Hermit/Maid Of Masham cross descendant) she produced Calumet's 1934 champion 2-year-old filly Nellie Flag. Bred to Bull Lea, a mating that gave a 3x4 inbreeding to The Apple's granddaughter Colonial, Nellie Flag produced Ore-the-Lea who made her mark on the classics as tail-female ancestress of 1987 Belmont Stakes (G1) victor Bet Twice.
The branch of Nellie Flag that leads to Sovereignty comes not through Ore-the-Lea, but via her Blenhiem daughter, Nellie L., heroine of the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes in 1943, again in the Calumet colors. In a mating that was very similar to that which created Ore-the-Lea, Nellie L. was bred to Bull Lea son, Commodore M. (giving Colonial 4x5) for a filly named Comely Nell. Unraced due to an eye injury, Comely Nell made her name as dam of the "Puerto Rican Rolls Royce" Bold Forbes—so called as he initially raced in Puerto Rico before being imported to the U.S.—who earned honors as champion 3-year-old of 1976 following front-running victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.
Priceless Fame, a full sister to Bold Forbes, was only a minor winner, but would eventually set a record as the most expensive mare ever sold at public auction up to that point when realizing $6 million in foal to Seattle Slew at the 1984 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November Sale. At that stage, she'd already produced English group 1 winner Dunbeath, and Saratoga Six, undefeated in a four-start career that included scores in the Balboa Stakes (G3), Hollywood Juvenile Championship (G2), and Del Mar Futurity (G1), all in 1984. Unfortunately, Priceless Fame never produced another runner of note following her historic sale, but Khwlah, foaled in between Dunbeath and Saratoga Six, was group-placed in Italy and appears as second dam of 2011 Vosburgh Invitational Stakes (G1) scorer Giant Ryan. Priceless Fame also subsequently produced the unraced Machiavellian mating, Headline, dam of Italian group 1 winner Ancient World, and of Jilbab, successful in the 2002 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1).
The year of her sale, Priceless Fame had foaled an Alydar filly, a full sister to Saratoga Six. The Alydar/Priceless Fame cross is interesting as Alydar's dam is inbred to Bull Lea, who is of course from this immediate family. In addition, Alydar is from the same G2a mitochondrial haplotype as the Maid Of Masham descendants. Sold for $2.7 million to Mike Rutherford as a yearling, the Alydar filly was named Milliardaire, and it is she who would become the fifth dam of Sovereignty. At the track, Milliardaire earned back just $17,400 of her purchase price, winning a maiden special weight and an allowance contest at Oaklawn Park in the February of her 4-year-old season, these being her only starts.
Milliardaire somewhat made up for the brevity of her racing career by producing a top-class filly in Lakeway, and she is ancestress of several other stakes winners, including 2010 Canadian champion turf horse Grand Adventure. A daughter of Seattle Slew, Lakeway narrowly missed adding another major credit for descendants of The Apple when beaten a head by Sardula in the 1994 Kentucky Oaks, but her victories included the Santa Anita Oaks (G1), Mother Goose Stakes (G1), Las Virgenes Stakes (G1), and Hollywood Oaks (G1).
Lakeway's only black-type-winning offspring was the Seeking the Gold filly Sluice. She was only a minor stakes winner, taking the 2001 Misty Isle Stakes at Arlington Park, but returned the family to the highest level through the medium of her Empire Maker daughter Mushka, a graded stakes winner on dirt, turf, and all-weather, including the 2009 Spinster Stakes (G1), 2007 Demoiselle Stakes (G2), and 2009 Glen Falls Handicap (G3T), and a second in the 2009 Breeders Cup Ladies' Classic (G1). Mushka has yet to produce a runner of note, but it's her unraced Bernardini daughter, Crowned, who is dam of Sovereignty.
Into Mischief's Reign
As far as Sovereignty's sire Into Mischief is concerned, the chief significance of Sovereignty's victory might be that it enabled him to open up a $2.5 million lead at the head of the leading sires list. Into Mischief has already captured that title six straight years, and a seventh title would match the modern-era record, set by Bold Ruler (the all-time record stands at 16 set by Lexington, who last headed the list in 1878).
Until recent years, Spendthrift Farm's Into Mischief was primarily perceived as a sire of sprinters and milers, and on that score he's responsible for such as Life Is Good , Practical Joke , Gamine, Covfefe, Wonder Wheel, Goldencents , Miss Mischief, and 2024 champion 2-year-old male Citizen Bull, who led the Derby through a rapid first three-quarters of a mile before fading to 15th. As Into Mischief's profile has risen, however, and he's attracted better class mares, another dimension has become apparent.
In the last six years Into Mischief has been responsible for three Kentucky Derby winners, Sovereignty succeeding Authentic (2020) and Mandaloun (2021), while Into Mischief's son, Goldencents, was represented by the 2024 hero, Mystik Dan. In addition, had not they been sidelined by injury shortly before the race, the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) winner Rodriguez (by Authentic) and Florida Derby (G1) winner Tappan Street (by Into Mischief), would have both been among the favorites for this year's Derby. On the middle-distance front we can also note Into Mischief as sire of champion 3-year-old filly and Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous; Laurel River, winner of the 2024 Dubai World Cup (G1); and Newgate , successful in the 2024 Santa Anita Derby (G1).
Perhaps these results are less surprising when one considers that Into Mischief himself was a grade 1 winner at 1 1/16 miles at 2, and is by Harlan's Holiday, who started favorite the 2002 Kentucky Derby, having captured the Florida Derby (G1) and Blue Grass Stakes (G1) beforehand, and who also took the Donn Handicap (G1) (now Pegasus World Cup Invitational takes) and ran second in the Dubai World Cup at 4.
So thoroughly is it woven in the fabric of the breed, it would be a futile task to enumerate all the Hermit/Maid Of Masham combinations in the pedigree of Sovereignty, but it is interesting to note some interesting examples in the pedigree of his male-line ancestor Storm Cat. Looking at the pedigree of South Ocean, dam of Storm Cat's sire Storm Bird, we see in the third generation Bull Lea—who as mentioned is from the direct female line of Sovereignty—and the sire Sun Again, who like Bull Lea is by a son of Teddy from the family of The Apple. On the distaff, Storm Cat's second dam, Crimson Saint, is by Crimson Satan who carries inbreeding to St. Mirin, a successful sire in Argentina, and a son of Hermit out of granddaughter Maid Of Masham, so closely related to The Apple.
Looking at more immediate pedigree details, Sovereignty is a produced of the Into Mischief/Bernardini cross that has now produced three stakes winners, also including Owendale, an earner of $1.5 million who triumphed in the 2019 Ohio Derby (G3) and Oklahoma Derby (G3), both at 1 1/8 miles. The cross of Into Mischief with mares by Tapit , a horse bred on similar lines to Bernardini has a further five stakes winners, headed by Pretty Mischievous. We should also not overlook that Sovereignty's second dam is by Empire Maker, the broodmare sire of eight Into Mischief stakes winners, including Mandaloun and Laurel River.
