Belmont Notebook: Godolphin Team Enjoys the Moment

Godolphin can never be accused of not stopping to smell the roses, and now the white carnations. With Godolphin homebred Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Sovereignty running back in the Belmont Stakes (G1), a number of team members ventured from Kentucky to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for the race that Sovereignty won June 7 at Saratoga Race Course. First on the agenda was celebrating the Derby win June 6 with trainer Bill Mott and jockey Junior Alvarado. "I think it's important to be able to celebrate these occasions," Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock Michael Banahan said after Saturday's win. "We actually did a little Derby celebration last night because we hadn't had a chance to get together with Bill and his team, and Junior. "We wanted to have it last night because it would have been a bummer if we'd lost (the Belmont) and then no one would be in the mood to celebrate." After Godolphin won the Kentucky Derby, Banahan noted how special the win was because so many staff members from its Darley operation near Lexington were able to make the trip to Churchill Downs. A group also made the trip to Saratoga to see Sovereignty nail down a second classic and the party would continue Saturday. "We have a great team and what's special about them is being able to celebrate some of the wins with them," Banahan said. "It's much easier to do it in Kentucky, but Saratoga is sort of our second home with (Darley at) Greentree up here and plenty of horses that come up here and are trained up here. It's a home to us as well." Starter Jordan Makes Some History With the timing of a job change from Churchill Downs to the New York Racing Association just after this year's Kentucky Derby, starter Scott Jordan had the distinction of serving in that role for both the Derby and the Belmont Stakes this year. "Now that it's in the books, it's a really surreal thing that this has happened for me," Jordan said. "I was happy at Churchill Downs but also saw an opportunity to do something else and it's been a great start here with the NYRA team." NYRA announced May 12 that Jordan had been appointed head starter. He had served as the head starter at Churchill Downs since 2006. Double Vision at the Wire Jordan noted that the oddity of starting two classics in the same year was followed by another rarity as the top three finishers in both the Derby and the Belmont were the same. Both races saw victories by Sovereignty, runner-up finishes by Journalism, and third-place finishes by Baeza. Another oddity for good measure? All nine classic placings this year were claimed by horses with single-word names as the Preakness Stakes (G1) was won by Journalism, who was followed by Gosger and Sandman. Repeat Classic Winner For the first time since Justify's Triple Crown sweep in 2018, United States racing is celebrating a repeat classic winner. The Triple Crown had seen 20 different classic winners before Sovereignty ended that stretch Saturday.