Like last year, it featured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners. However, unlike last year and for the first time since 2018, one of those two won to secure two of the three legs of the Triple Crown.

“I think they are three really good horses,” Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott said. “I’m glad [Sovereignty] was able to come back and have a race like he did in the Derby.”

It was the second Belmont win for Mott. He spends most of his summer tending to his horses at Saratoga, so winning the Belmont at Saratoga was extra special.

“This is home,” Mott said. “It’s the race we were pointing for after the Derby, and fortunately it worked out very well. … The horse was good. Junior [Alvarado] rode him well.”

It was the second Belmont at Saratoga, with renovations being made to its usual home at Belmont Park on Long Island.

Rodriguez, who made his Triple Crown debut, burst out and led the field of eight in the 1 1/4-mile race until the top of the stretch when Journalism made a surge. Followed closely behind was Sovereignty, with jockey Junior Alvarado aboard. He caught Journalism almost instantly and ran away with it.

The 5-2 second favorite finished in 2:00.69, beating Preakness winner Journalism by three lengths.

“He broke very well again today like he’s been doing,” Alvarado said. “He put himself in a good spot. I was a little shocked how close, but at the same time, I’m happy with how easily he was doing everything. As a jockey, I was very happy where he was.”

Journalism ended up in second again, and Baeza was third — the same 1-2-3 as the Kentucky Derby. Journalism, the only horse to run in all three legs, entered the gate at the Belmont as the 2-1 favorite, with Baeza the third favorite at 7-2.

Sovereignty paid $7 to win, $3.20 to place and $2.30 to show. Journalism returned $3.20 and $2.30, and Baeza paid $2.60.

Sovereignty led off the first leg of the Triple Crown by winning the Derby in early May. The colt also edged Journalism in that race.

After the Derby win, the Godolphin-owned 3-year-old opted out of the Preakness to focus on the Belmont, forfeiting a shot at history to win the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown hasn’t been won since 2018, when Bob Baffert’s Justify won the 105th Belmont Stakes to secure the third jewel.

Despite winning both legs of the Triple Crown that Sovereignty entered, Mott and Godolphin’s Michael Banahan didn’t regret not running him in the Preakness Stakes.

“I think if you leave the races out of it, it’s what was the right thing to do for the horse,” Banahan said. “That’s what we talked about — what was the right thing for the horse to do going forward?”

One of the reasons Mott and Godolphin skipped the Preakness was that they didn’t want to exhaust the horse and wanted a long future for the 3-year-old. There are a couple of stakes races later in the summer for 3-year-olds, but the main one is at the end of the year, the Travers Stakes.

The Travers, at the end of the Saratoga meet, could be another loaded field and potentially another rematch between Journalism and Sovereignty.

“I’d love to come back and take a crack at the Travers in August,” Mott said. “It’s a race I’ve never won, but I think it’s a very important race for a 3-year-old like Sovereignty. I think if he’s healthy, everybody would probably be in agreement that’s the race we would point to.”

Saratoga itself is a draw for avid fans, given the track’s place in horse racing history and a nod to its roots, but the debate continues about how to keep the Triple Crown relevant for a casual audience.

Horse racing is one of the oldest sports in the nation, dating back to before the Declaration of Independence. But unlike then, horse racing now has to compete for attention in a crowded sports landscape.

Racetracks like Saratoga have attempted to make the weekend a spectacle, with bands and activities throughout the races in hopes of showing the greatness of horse racing and what a day at the track looks like.

“It’s a great day out, lots of excitement,” said Michael Banahan of Godolphin, who owns Kentucky Derby winner and Belmont contender Sovereignty. “There are a lot of things that go on during the race week, as well. … I think just some people that hadn’t seen that before are beginning to enjoy that.”

The outreach extends beyond the track. Places like America’s Best Racing are working to educate casual fans about everything from betting to how well horses are taken care of and what to expect on race day.

It has connected with celebrities and influencers to get them involved in horse racing. That most recently included TikTok star Griffin Johnson, who was given a small ownership stake in Derby and Preakness horse Sandman.

Johnson showed himself getting ready for the races, bathing Sandman and showing what the colt does on his off day. Through this, the combined accounts of ABR and Johnson totaled 268 million-plus impressions and 111 million views.

“It’s great to have another young horse racing fan in the room,” said ABR’s director of digital marketing, Rachel Miller. “But, obviously, the same formula isn’t going to work forever. It’s going to reach a point where maybe Griffin’s involvement in racing may stall out or Sandman’s not racing anymore. There are just so many unknown variables, especially in this sport, and that’s one of the harder sells.”

There’s another option to draw more viewers, but it’s controversial.

Journalism wins the Preakness Stakes 2025 race at Pimlico | PHOTOS

Ever since Sovereignty didn’t run in the Preakness Stakes, forfeiting a shot at the Triple Crown to rest up for the Belmont, there have been conversations about spreading out the three legs beyond the current gap of two weeks, then three weeks.

Banahan believes spacing out the legs for more rest could attract higher-caliber horses, with more of a chance of the Kentucky Derby winner running, raising interest.

“I’m not too sure if that’ll be the case or not,” Banahan said. “I think the quality of racing is probably what draws people in. I think if we get better horses in all those races, I think they’ll get the casual to tune into those as well. Good competition, good horses in there, that happens by having a little more time between to rest. That’ll be good for us.”

Not everyone agrees that extending the time in between races would increase viewership. Trainer Chad Brown, who has Hill Road in the Belmont, thinks extending the time in between races actually will hurt the Triple Crown.

“I think if you start spreading it out, you run the risk of losing everyone’s attention, too,” Brown said. “That’s a long time for everyone to be invested in watching how this turns out. I think that the average sports fan moves on from sport to sport throughout the year. I think we have to be happy that we have some of them just for the Triple Crown, even if we can’t get them all the way through the bigger stuff. I think extending events runs risks for that.”