Belmont Stakes 2025 recap, winnings: Sovereignty beats out Journalism in rematch of Kentucky Derby, Preakness winners

Sovereignty is the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes while skipping the Preakness Stakes. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

After watching the 2025 Belmont Stakes, we can say Sovereignty's win at the Kentucky Derby was no fluke.

Once again, the horse beat out race favorite Journalism on Saturday to take the third leg of the Triple Crown, surging through the field in the second half of the race to win by multiple lengths. The victory wins Sovereignty's owners $1.2 million of the $2 million purse, with Journalism getting $360,000 and third-place finisher Baeza getting $200,000.

Those three horses finished in the exact same order at Churchill Downs last month.

A correct $1 exacta would have returned $6.60, while a trifecta would pay $13.80 and a superfecta would pay $40.50.

It's the first time since Justified took the Triple Crown in 2018 that a single horse has won two of the three races. Sovereignty, of course, didn't race in the Preakness Stakes, which Journalism won in thrilling fashion to set up a clash of elite 3-year-olds at Saratoga Race Course, filling in for the under-renovation Belmont Park.

Rather than put Sovereignty through a quick two-week turnaround, trainer Bill Mott instead opted to skip the Preakness and spend more time preparing for Saturday's race. There's no way to be sure if Sovereignty also would have won at the Preakness, or still would have won at Belmont if he had another race on his legs, but it immediately becomes a major what-if in horse racing history.

Sovereignty isn't the first Kentucky Derby winner to skip the Preakness, but he is the first horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes without competing in the Preakness.

That extra rest at least seemed to help Sovereignty run the race his team clearly wanted. In a race of three favorites between Sovereignty, Journalism and Baeza, the trio of longshots Rodriguez, Uncaged and Crudo jumped out to an early lead. Just as he did in the Derby, Journalism emerged from the outside halfway through the race to reach the front of the pack, but Sovereignty was right behind him, and faster down the stretch.