William Mott: 2023 Breeders' Cup Trainer Profile

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has been a fixture at the World Championships since 1986, the third year it was ever run. He has emerged as one of the event’s most successful trainers: across 120 starters between 1986 and 2022, Mott has won 12 races. Those victories have spanned across 35 years: his first came in 1987, with his most recent in 2022. He will be one of the major figures in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup on November 3 and 4 at host track Santa Anita Park, with seven runners pre-entered in the races.

Bill Mott is a constant presence in the North American graded ranks on both turf and dirt, and he has won Breeders’ Cup races on both the main track and the grass. Most of his wins have come on the main track, however: nine, including Breeders’ Cup Classic wins with the immortal Cigar in 1995 and with long shot Drosselmeyer in 2011.

His most successful race over the years has been the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, also known between 2008 and 2012 as the Ladies’ Classic. Though Mott does not have a horse in the Distaff this year, he has won that race five times with Ajina (1997), Escena (1998), Unrivaled Belle (2010), and Royal Delta (2011-2012). Mott has won three times with horses on the grass. In fact, his first Breeders’ Cup win came in 1987 with Theatrical in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Perhaps the strongest trend among Mott’s Breeders’ Cup victories is distance: 11 of his 12 Breeders’ Cup wins have come at a mile or longer. Mott won his first race at the Breeders’ Cup at a distance shorter than a mile in 2022, when Elite Power won the Sprint.

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Breeders’ Cup Turf

From 21 starters, Bill Mott has won the Breeders’ Cup Turf twice, with Theatrical (1987) and Fraise (1992). Though both wins happened over 30 years ago, he continues to bring strong competitors into the race. He finished third in the Turf in 2020 with Channel Maker, and also in 2022 with War Like Goddess.

War Like Goddess

War Like Goddess is a dyed-in-the-wool 1 ½-mile horse, meaning this is the right spot as opposed to the shorter Filly & Mare Turf. A late runner, she will be best suited if the pace in the turf gets lively. To her credit, she has been able to take strong form all over, as her 11 wins have come at five different tracks: Churchill Downs, Gulfstream Park, Keeneland, Saratoga, and Aqueduct. And, despite a misfire in the New York (G1) three starts back, she has been better in recent starts, including a repeat win over males in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) at Belmont Park.

Breeders’ Cup Mile

Mott has started 23 horses in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and the results have been feast or famine. He has one winner: Tourist, who upset Hall of Fame mare Tepin in 2016. Three other horses in his barn have finished second, most recently Courageous Cat, who finished only half a length behind the great Goldikova in 2009. However, among the other 19, none have finished better than fifth.

Casa Creed

Seven years old and as good as ever, Casa Creed has been a classy and versatile runner. He is a two-time winner of the Jaipur (G1) at six furlongs and also a two-time winner of the Fourstardave (G1) at a mile. He has tried both the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2021 and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in 2022, finishing off the board in both. With the Turf Sprint being only a flat five furlongs at Santa Anita, running him in the Mile is the right call, and he should make a strong late run, assuming the turf is playing fairly to off-pace runners.

Breeders’ Cup Sprint

Before 2022, Mott had run six horses in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, with none finishing better than fifth. Elite Power, coming out of his first-ever graded-stakes win in an extremely weak running of the Vosburgh (G2), then won the Sprint in his first try at the Grade 1 level. Mott will attempt to win his second Breeders’ Cup Sprint this year with the same horse.

Elite Power

Even though Elite Power comes into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint off of his first defeat in over a year, he will likely go off the favorite in the race. After all, Gunite overhauled him over a seven-furlong trip in the Forego (G1), whereas the cut back to the conventional six-furlong sprint distance helps Elite Power. With strong pace versatility and the ability to run his race at any track he visits, it would be no surprise if Elite Power becomes the first repeat winner of the Sprint since Roy H.

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

Mott has rarely run horses in the Dirt Mile, though all things considered, his record has been good. He tried top-class turf horse Mr. Sidney in the 2009 edition of this race, which was run over synthetic, and he ran off the board. But, the two horses who ran here over conventional dirt have both made excellent account. Lea ran second to Liam’s Map in 2015, and Cody’s Wish capped a fairytale season with a Dirt Mile win in 2022.

Cody’s Wish

After running in the Whitney (G1) like a horse who will not stay the 1 ¼-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic distance, Cody’s Wish was pointed to a defense in the Dirt Mile. Just like last year, he got a seven-furlong prep, with this year’s final prep coming in the Vosburgh (G2). Even though Cody’s Wish’s dazzling Met Mile (G1) win this year came at a one-turn configuration, he proved in last year’s Dirt Mile that he can be potent at the two-turn setup as well. With the versatility to track close to the pace or rally late, he has every right to be a defined favorite.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies

Bill Mott has started four horses in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, with his best finish coming in 1989, when Sweet Roberta finished second to the great Go for Wand. It has been nine years since he started a horse in the Juvenile Fillies at all: his last runner was Puca, who finished sixth behind Take Charge Brandi in 2014. A stakes winner in her own right, Puca is now better known as the dam of 2023 Kentucky Derby winner and Breeders’ Cup Classic entrant Mage.

Just F Y I

Just F Y I will be one of the less seasoned runners in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies, as she has raced just twice and has yet to tackle two turns. However, she has won her races in two different ways. She battled to a narrow victory on debut, winning by just a head in a six-furlong maiden special weight over dry dirt at Saratoga. She romped in the Frizette (G1), run over a sloppy mile at Aqueduct. With tactical speed and a pedigree with two turns written all over it, this daughter of Justify can move further forward.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf

Mott does not often make appearances in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. He has run just four horses in the race, all between 2014 and 2017. None have finished better than seventh, though all trained on to be good racehorses into their sophomore season and often beyond.

Gala Brand

Gala Brand sparkled on debut in a maiden special weight turf sprint at Saratoga. She faced males next out in the With Anticipation (G2), winning by half a length over Carson’s Run: the next-out winner of the Summer (G1) at Woodbine. Though Gala Brand finished only a belated fourth as the favorite in the Miss Grillo (G2), Mott saw enough to keep her pointed toward the Breeders’ Cup. As a confirmed closer, she will be best suited if the pace gets sharp and if the track is playing fairly to off-pace runners.

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