(Reuters) -Sovereignty won the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky, in a thrilling fight to the finish line on Saturday to capture the first leg of U.S. thoroughbred racing’s famed Triple Crown.
The bay colt thrived in the wet and sloppy conditions at Churchill Downs to finish the 1-1/4-mile race in two minutes and 2.31 seconds, beating the heavy favourite Journalism down the final straight.
Journalism finished about a length behind while Baeza was third.
The race marked famed trainer Bob Baffert’s first trip to the derby after a three-year ban from the track. Churchill Downs had suspended him after his horse, Medina Spirit, failed a drugs test after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
His horse, Citizen Bull, took the early lead from the pole position, hanging on through much of the race as a dense chase pack followed.
Sovereignty and Journalism made their move at the same time, navigating around the outside on the final turn before battling nose-to-nose through the final 16th of a mile before Sovereignty pulled away in the final moments.
Baeza, who drew in after another Baffert-trained horse, Rodriguez, scratched on Thursday, sneaked into third as jockey Hector Berrios made a gutsy last minute move.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Deepa Babington)
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