OAKLAWN HANDICAP (G2)
Sovereignty and Journalism shared the US Triple Crown races between them last season and were at the very top of the 3-year-old crop in 2025. The fact that they were both making their return in the Oaklawn Handicap made for a mouth watering clash and I think that both sets of connections will be able to take a lot of positives from their comeback runs. However, the focus on those big names in the build up to the race meant that the former Breeders’ Cup Classic and Pegasus World Cup winner in the field was being overshadowed. That was true until the field began to swing for home and the beautiful grey form of WHITE ABARRIO loomed up on the outside.
There was a lack of early pace on paper and that’s how the race proved, with the winner coming home with a finishing speed of 99.2%. My first note would be that Journalism was restless in the stalls before the gates opened and had to have assistance from one of the stalls handlers to out his head down before the button was pushed. That forced Jose Ortiz to briefly him into the bridle as he battled with Sovereignty and White Abarrio for the early lead, with less than 0.02s between the 3 of them at the end of the first furlong. Irad Ortiz Jr. held the inside line aboard White Abarrio, but Sovereignty’s longer stride allowed him to gallop on into an early lead and he held a small advantage of 0.18s as they entered the back straight. However, with Liberal Arts i on his outside, Journalism made a forward move to put his nose in front as they reached the end of the back stretch. At this stage, it may appear that Sovereignty and Journalism were taking each other on. That’s true to a point, but the furlong splits for the middle part of the race show that neither of them ran below 11.85s pace and the race was developing into a relatively sedate gallop by the standards of top level dirt races in the US. That played into the hands of Irad Ortiz aboard White Abarrio, who sat behind the pair watching the battle unfold and waiting for his own chance to run them down. A brief shake of the reins saw White Abarrio quicken as he switched off the inside rail and once alongside the leading pair, he was always going best despite having to race wide around the turn. His closing splits of 11.88 and 11.72s were 0.55s and 0.67s quicker than Sovereignty and Journalism respectively and his late speed figure of 37.88 mph could not be matched by his rivals.
There are lots of points to factor in here. White Abarrio had the benefit of a more recent run having finished 2nd in the Pegasus World Cup behind Skippylongstocking in January. He had the best of the draw, albeit in a small field and Sovereignty was conceding weight to him under the race conditions. However, the most significant point is the way the race developed. A lack of early pace forced both Sovereignty and Journalism to go forwards. Both of them recorded much longer average stride lengths than White Abarrio, with Journalism recording the longest peak average stride length in the field at 25.32 ft. Neither were particularly well suited by a tactical race with a sprint finish, especially on their first run of the year and that played into the hands of Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard White Abarrio. He recorded a much shorter average stride length but at a peak average of 2.54 strides per second, his stride frequency figure was 4% higher than Sovereignty and 8% higher than Journalism. He has definitely returned to form in 2026 and Saffie Joseph Jr should be congratulated for getting him back to peak form. However, with the benefit of this run behind them and a stronger pace next time, I think the data offers plenty of reasons to think that this form may well be reversed.