Most sports fans are well aware of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing—the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes—but there is also the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred Racing, with the fourth leg of that series taking place this Saturday at Del Mar Racetrack in the San Diego area.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic, the highlight of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, boasts a star-studded field of 10 racehorses, highlighted by Horse of the Year favorite Sovereignty.
While Sovereignty won the Derby and Belmont, bypassing the Preakness in between, it’s no slam dunk that he’ll prevail at the Breeders’ Cup Classic. One reason is that this race is open to horses ages 3 and older, while the Triple Crown is only for 3-year-olds. Thus, Sovereignty will compete against horses that are 4 or 5 years old, and colts typically peak as racehorses at ages 4-5. Six of his nine competitors are at those ages, so Sovereignty is stepping up in weight class Saturday.The horse who won the Preakness is one of Sovereignty’s biggest rivals—in the same way that Josh Allen is a “rival” of Patrick Mahomes. Just as Allen has never defeated Mahomes in the playoffs, Preakness victor Journalism has never defeated Sovereignty in a race. The former has placed either first or second in each of his last eight races but is coming off a runner-up at this same Del Mar track in late August. Journalism’s handlers decided to part ways with the jockey who had ridden the horse in all eight of those starts. We’ll see if this personnel change finally results in Journalism prevailing over his nemesis.
