Usually, people look for signs and omens to help them choose horse racing winners. Still, a divine message appeared on Saturday at the 151st Kentucky Derby, boding well for the Biblical heartland.

147,000 spectators watched 19 horses race on a sloppy track still muddy from heavy rain. Michael McCarthy’s Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism was the favorite to win and lead in the home turn. But Florida Derby runner-up and the 7-1 third choice Sovereignty under Venezuelan rider Junior Alvarado pulled ahead in the final stretch to win the race by one and a half lengths.

The aptly named thoroughbred may have been helped along by the power of the prayers of pro-Israel horse-racing enthusiasts praying for Israeli “sovereignty” in the Biblical heartland. Indeed, Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria has been in the prayers of Jews and Christians alike, especially since the election of President Trump has brought the possibility to the forefront.

And Journalism may have been hindered by the ill will generated by the mainstream media for its shabby treatment of truth and the Jewish state. 

The Derby, known as “The Run for the Roses,” is run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It is the most-watched and most-attended horse race in the United States and is the first leg of the Triple Crown. Three-year-old Thoroughbreds run it at one and a quarter miles, leading the race to be described as  “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.”

As the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Sovereignty is eligible to run in the second leg of the American Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.