You might say coach Riley Mott has been ready for this second for many of her life. Mott, 33, will function a Breeders’ Cup starter for the primary time at this yr’s World Championships. He will likely be a number one contender within the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on Oct. 31, together with 2-year-old Nyquist-bred Grade 1 winner Argos.
Mott’s identify wants no introduction on this business. Riley’s father, Corridor of Fame coach Invoice Mott, is a Breeders’ Cup veteran and a jockey whose total efficiency may imply he may climb Mount Rushmore if there have been a mountain sculpture devoted to trainers. The older Mott was a 130-man starter within the Breeders’ Cup, compiling a 15-12-11 file. He has an revenue of $26,346,900, rating him fifth amongst all trainers.
Riley witnessed a lot of Breeders’ Cups as a toddler obsessive about horse racing after which as one in every of his father’s assistants, leaving his 10-year put up to roof his personal within the fall of 2022.
Mott was only a toddler when his father, the legendary Cigar, skied down a muddy monitor to win the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Basic at Belmont Park by two and a half lengths. This horse’s exploits have been positively a part of the household’s lore.
“The Breeders’ Cup has been a giant a part of my ardour for this sport and part of my life for a very long time,” Riley Mott mentioned. “I used to and I nonetheless daydream about it. Simply think about with the ability to be there. Even earlier than I began working for my dad, I used to be all the time serious about what (the horses) would have for this occasion. I am simply actually trying ahead to it.”
Whereas working for his father, Riley went above and past by touring with horses to main races world wide, together with the Breeders’ Cup, the Dubai World Cup and the Saudi Cup. He is on a routine and wasn’t serious about reinventing the wheel as he ready to ship Argos from his house base at Churchill Downs to Southern California on Oct. 25.
“We’re used to transporting massive races, and we now have a blueprint of kinds,” he mentioned. “We have discovered that horses are fairly used to move. Not all horses are the identical, however they’re fairly resilient and more often than not they cope effectively with what we throw at them.
“In terms of making ready for the Argos, we simply wish to keep true to how we received there, our regular routine and schedule,” he added. “This horse is now able to compete within the Breeders’ Cup, so I don’t wish to do something too flashy or cute main as much as the race.”
The Argos have gained two of their three beginning video games. He’s owned by a partnership led by David Ronnick, who purchased the colt again for $165,000 on the Ocala Breeders-trained 2-year-old Sale March earlier this yr. The Kentucky-raised athlete made his profession debut July 13 at Ellis Park, profitable by a half-length within the 5-furlong 1/2 maiden particular weight occasion on turf. Argos completed third within the Hovering Free Stakes at Woodbine on August 16, trailing the favourite two-out Hero by 1 3/4 lengths.
Mott ran the horse in Hovering Free to arrange Argos for the Grade 1 Wager 365 Summer season Stakes on Sept. 13, a Breeders’ Cup Problem Collection “win-or-go” occasion. The plan labored brilliantly, with Argos, ridden by Breeders’ Cup jockey Flavien Prat, profitable by a head over European favourite Invader Wild Desert with a decided late cost.
Argos would be the second Breeders’ Cup starter for Ronnick, a Florida-based pari-mutuel wagering and gaming legal professional with an extended profession in horse racing, together with serving as president of Gulfstream Park. He was half proprietor of Caltech, which completed fifth within the 1989 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park.
Newer companions have included David S. Cheeks, Deborah Ok. Dougherty, C2 Racing Stables, BAG Racing Stables and Robert Riedel, but it surely was Ronnick who first campaigned Argos and chosen Mott as his coach.
“I’ve pal in Gregory Fox who’s a veterinarian in Kentucky,” Ronnick mentioned. “I referred to as Greg and instructed him he solely had one barn and I wished to ship this horse to a coach who was skilled by a Corridor of Fame coach and is a future Corridor of Fame coach himself. It took Greg a few nanosecond to get that phrase out, Riley Mott.”
Mott’s enterprise has steadily grown since he saddled Unifying, his first winner and third time operating at Churchill Downs, on November 10, 2022. The younger coach, who presently has 60 horses in his steady and hopes for extra, has a profession file of 97 wins, 75 losses, and 83 attracts from 610 runners as of Oct. 23, with a handbag of greater than $7 million.
Argos is jockey Riley Mott’s second Group 1 winner, following the victory of Pin Oak Stud-bred World Beater within the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes in August.
It will likely be just like the outdated house week of the Breeders’ Cup for Motts. Father and son find yourself assembly once more beneath the identical hut. It is protected to say that Sovereignty, jockey’s star runner and favourite for the Basic, will get many of the consideration from the media, however Riley, a fan of the Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby, the NYRA Bets Belmont Stakes and the Godolphin homebred horse that captivated the racing world with spectacular wins this yr, is OK with that. DraftKings Traverse Wager.
“It is actually nice to win Sovereignty at this level in my dad’s profession and at this level in my life as a result of he is actually a once-in-a-lifetime horse,” Riley mentioned. “I’m actually happy with how my dad and his workforce have dealt with this horse and campaigned him.
“We will likely be on the bottom to get good vibes from the sovereign,” he added. “It may be a really emotional week. Simply being with my dad and having my household there will likely be particular. Hopefully all of us have a productive weekend.”
