On Racing: Breeders' Cup Master Mott Back for No. 32

In a week during which the world is braced for any number of alarming headlines, there will be solace in the familiar.

Dog Bites Man.

Politician Lies.

Mott in Breeders' Cup.

The type was set in 1986, when Bill Mott saddled his first Breeders' Cup runner, and it has been used every year since then except 1988, when the trainer had his last quiet year without a major headline. In fact, no other trainer has shown up at the big jamboree for the last 31 years like he has. Not D. Wayne Lukas. Not Bob Baffert. Not even Andre Fabre, who has been dipping into his bottomless well of prime French runners for Breeders' Cup races since 1987.

Mott is back for number 32 in a row this year at the fan-free Keeneland Breeders' Cup with a scrappy cast that includes the fiery sprinter Frank's Rockette, old turf pro Channel Maker, and Horologist, winner of the Beldame Stakes (G2). Mott's also got Tacitus in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), but the less said about that frustrating colt the better, unless he promises to replicate his romp in the Suburban Stakes (G2) from last July.

Mott, 67, has been in the Hall of Fame so long he's worn out his blue blazer. And yet he moves through the sport without fuss or fanfare, a low-key South Dakotan with a deadpan sense of humor. The trainer arrived at Keeneland on a quiet Thursday the week before the Nov. 6-7 Breeders' Cup to find part of his contingent settled in with his son and assistant, Riley Mott, and the rest heading over from Churchill Downs when the weather cleared.

"We've got some nice horses, but we're not holding a gun on anybody," Mott said. "I don't know that we'll be less than 10-to-1 in any spot. It's not like you're showing up with a champion. But maybe we are, and we just don't know it yet."

Mott's 10 Breeders' Cup winners have included champions and surprises, spread among four of the original seven races that were unveiled at Hollywood Park in 1984: the Classic (G1), the Turf (G1T), the Distaff (G1), and the Mile (G1T). The 1995 Classic victory of Cigar stands out, coming as it did at the end of an unbeaten 10-race campaign. But when asked which of the 10 meant the most to him, Mott turned to the 1987 showdown in the Turf against the Andre Fabre Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1T) winner, Trempolino.

"Theatrical was awful big for me," Mott said. "He was my first Breeders' Cup winner, my first champion, and we beat the Arc winner in the bargain. I mean, he sticks out even when you ask about the best horses I've ever trained. He's right there at the top of the list."

That 1987 Turf was a gut-twisting thriller that showcased the best versions of the North American and European sport. Trempolino joined Theatrical at the top of the Hollywood stretch with a quarter of a mile to run and the two Pats—Eddery and Day—sitting chilly. When they asked, both horses answered. Mott vividly recalls the sight of Eddery bouncing in the saddle and windmilling his whip, while Day's finishing style was in dramatic contrast.

"He was barely moving," Mott said. The margin was half a length.

Of the 46 different trainers at Hollywood to saddle horses for the 1987 Breeders' Cup, only eight besides Mott are still at work today. Lukas and Neil Drysdale continue to rise early. So do the Brits John Gosden, Michael Stoute, Paul Cole, and David Elsworth, as well as Fabre and his fellow Frenchmen, Pascal Bary.

Mott's Breeders' Cup winners are rarely a shock, but even the trainer was surprised at the way Fraise was able to turn the tables on Sky Classic to win the 1992 running of the Turf. In their previous meeting, Sky Classic and Pat Day handled Fraise by nearly two lengths in the Turf Classic (G1T).

"I've had good riders give me magnificent rides in Breeders' Cup races," Mott said. "Gosh, I think about Gary Stevens going wire-to-wire with Escena in the Distaff and wins by a nose. Mike Smith comes from next-to-last on Drosselmeyer in the Classic, and nobody even knows he's in the race until the last sixteenth of a mile. But what P. Val did on Fraise at Gulfstream was pretty special."

Pat Valenzuela steered Fraise from last place, hugging the Gulfstream hedge, split horses to reach contention, and then dove to the rail for a final burst that beat Sky Classic by a nose.

"He was in and out, boom-boom-boom, and never missed a beat," Mott said. "It was absolutely flawless."

History will be made if Mott can snag the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) with Frank's Rockette, winner of three straight graded sprint stakes, including the Gallant Bloom (G2) against her elders last time out. Mott is aware of his reputation for turning sprinters into milers and milers into routers, always angling for the better purses. Has this been a conscious career choice? He laughed.

"You mean like the Peb cartoon with the field going by and a horse is finishing two lengths behind everybody?" Mott said. "The owner looks at the trainer and says, 'Well, you finally got him to relax.'"

At the end of the day, Mott knows his 32nd straight Breeders' Cup will be unlike any other.

"Racing has done a pretty darn good job to hold together, considering all the other sports, hotels, restaurants and businesses that have been hit hard by the virus," he said. "We've got potentially six Breeders' Cup horses, all running on Saturday, so it will be a fun, busy day. But you've got to feel lucky just to be here."