Sovereignty confirmed his dominance over the 3-year-old division with a powerful performance in Saturday’s 157th Belmont Stakes, contested for the second year at Saratoga Race Course.

Just as he had in the Kentucky Derby, the Godolphin homebred ran past a determined Journalism to win convincingly—this time by two lengths—with Baeza once again finishing third.

Ridden with poise by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty tracked the early pace from close range before launching a strong, wide rally into the stretch to overhaul Journalism, who had taken a bold run at the lead under Umberto Rispoli. Baeza, also third in the Derby, closed late for the same position here, while early leader Rodriguez, guided by Mike Smith, faded to fourth.

Though Sovereignty did not participate in the Preakness Stakes, spoiling any hopes of a Triple Crown—trainer Bill Mott earlier said bluntly, “We just didn’t feel like it”—his connections were elated with the colt’s bookending of the Triple Crown series with victories in the Derby and now the Belmont.

“I’m on a cloud,” Mott said. “The horse proved himself, and I think the form held up. The first three finishers in the Derby were 1-2-3 today.”

Michael Banahan, bloodstock manager for owner-breeder Godolphin USA, praised the consistency of the colt. “We knew he was a very good horse going into the Kentucky Derby, and he showed it that day. And to come back here again and beat a really, really good horse like Journalism today, running one-two like they did in the Derby—it was a fantastic result for us.”

The race unfolded with Smith sending Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial winner trained by Bob Baffert, to the lead through moderate fractions, a quarter in 23.42 and a half in 47.60, with light pressure from Crudo. Alvarado had Sovereignty perfectly placed along the inside in third, while Journalism, trained by Michael McCarthy, bobbled slighlty leaving the gate before beginning a steady outside advance.

As the field neared the far turn, Smith let Rodriguez out a notch, clocking 1:12.20 for six furlongs. Rispoli sent Journalism up three wide to take the lead near the quarter pole, after a mile in 1:36.70.

But Sovereignty tipped out for clear running and surged past his rival inside the eighth pole.

The final time for the 1¼ miles on a fast track was 2:00.69. Sovereignty paid $7.00 to win as the second choice, while the $1 exacta with favorite Journalism returned $6.60.

With the victory, Sovereignty improved his career record to four wins from seven starts and boosted his earnings to nearly $4.9 million. The decision by Sovereignty’s connections to skip the Middle Jewel denied him the chance at a Triple Crown and the immortality that secures. But his performance today, coupled with his Derby triumph make one thing clear: Sovereignty is the one to beat among three-year-olds this season.