Mott Looks for Derby Win He Can Immediately Celebrate

When the field crossed the finish line in the 2019 Kentucky Derby (G1), trainer Bill Mott and his son, Riley, high-fived as the 65-1 Country House   streaked under the wire in second, 1 3/4 lengths behind Maximum Security  . 

It was the Hall of Fame trainer's best finish in the Run for the Roses from his previous eight starters, and, as a bonus, he also saddled fourth-place finisher Tacitus  . What Mott didn't realize in that celebratory moment was that he was on the verge of something bigger—becoming a Kentucky Derby-winning trainer—after an extraordinary turn of events resulted in the first-ever disqualification of the winner for interference in the world's most celebrated race.

For more than 20 minutes while the stewards eagle-eyed the films of the 145th Derby and deliberated on their ultimate decision to demote Maximum Security to 17th place for causing interference that impacted several horses near the five-sixteenths pole, Mott entered the Churchill Downs' tunnel and slipped into a room to do his own critiquing of the objections lodged by two riders: Flavien Prat aboard Country House and Jon Court, who finished 17th on Long Range Toddy .

"We thought both our horses had really run well. It would have been our best finish ever in the Derby," Mott recently recalled. "We were really thrilled for Country House and the way he ran, and so, too, Tacitus (who would be elevated to third after the disqualification). We felt like we had accomplished something.

"Then all of a sudden, the inquiry sign went up, and then we just had to wait it out—23 minutes. I wasn't saying too much; everyone was looking for a comment. But we just had to wait for the review of the stewards; it was pretty much out of our hands at that point. During the 23 minutes, I went into the tunnel at Churchill, and they have a little room in there with a TV for the maintenance guys, and I was watching the head-on—the stewards' view—and I came out and said, 'You know what? (Maximum Security) should come down.' I think my comments at the time were, 'If this were a Wednesday in the first race, it would be a no-brainer.'

"(Maximum Security) had bothered so many horses the stewards had to figure out where they had to place him. We didn't get bothered (with Country House), believe it or not. Maybe just a little brush or something like that. But nothing of any consequence whatsoever." 

Mott returned to the Derby once since then, with the 35-1 South Bend , who finished 15th and last in 2020. He's back this year with Rocket Can , who likely will be double-digits odds when he enters the starting gate May 6. The son of multiple leading sire Into Mischief   out of the Tapit   mare Tension is owned by Frank Fletcher Racing Operations and is a winner of 2-of-7 starts, including the Holy Bull Stakes (G3). After the Holy Bull, the colt finished a well-beaten second to Forte  in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and was then fourth as the post-time favorite in the Arkansas Derby (G1).

"His Arkansas Derby wasn't his best race," Mott said. "It's almost like he idled the last part of it. Take nothing away from the winner (Angel of Empire ), who was brilliant and impressive, but we were close enough to be second, and I thought we could have been second easily enough."

Mott added a pair of French-cup blinkers (around a one-inch cup) for Rocket Can's breezes at Churchill Downs following the Arkansas Derby and liked what he saw, so the colt will wear them in the Kentucky Derby.

The 69-year-old trainer is packing mojo going into the first Saturday in May with nine stakes winners this year including Art Collector 's takedown of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1). Mott's 2023 thus far is a continuation of a brilliant season last year that saw him collect victories in two Breeders' Cup races: the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) with Elite Power  and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) with Cody's Wish . Mott's earnings in 2022 of $16.8 million is a personal best.

When asked about the recent strength of his stable, which is merely icing on the cake of an already hugely decorated career, he at first deflects with a joke about his age but then seriously considers the question and says, "We've got good horses, and I think we still have the desire to do it. The whole team is trying to do a good job, and we're still able to get good stock. There are some good trainers out there who are getting good horses, but we're getting—maybe a smaller number—but we're still getting some quality horses to work with. I think we can still win the right races if we get the right horses."

It remains to be seen if Rocket Can is the 'right' horse to deliver Mott a second Derby victory—one in which his horse is first under the wire.

"We would love to do it that way. If that's ever going to happen, it would be great to have a winner in that fashion," he said.

Mott will provide Fletcher with his first trip to the Derby as the owner of Rocket Can. A native of Arkansas who won his first race as an owner in 1989 at Oaklawn Park, Fletcher has already soared to great heights with Mott, who trains homebred Frank's Rockette  for him. A multiple graded stakes winner and millionaire under Mott's care, the 6-year-old Frank's Rockette, a daughter of Into Mischief, has won races each of her five seasons on the racetrack and started her 2023 campaign with a win in the Hurricane Bertie Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park March 11 and then recorded a 10th career stakes win in the April 29 Roxelana Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Fletcher's longtime racing manager is Kathy Moore Howard, a former jockey who retired in 1994 and had ridden for Mott. When Fletcher and Howard heard good things about Frank's Rockette from Eddie Woods when the filly was training as a 2-year-old at Woods' farm in Ocala, Fla., they contacted Mott to see if he would train the filly who is out of Fletcher's Indian Charlie mare, Rocket Twentyone .

"Kathy and I reached out to Bill to see if he would take the filly on and we didn't know that he would," Fletcher said. "When I asked him if he knew Eddie Woods and he said, 'I know him well.' I told Bill instead of talking to me, he should call Eddie and ask him about Frank's Rockette. Bill called back in about five minutes and said, 'We would love to have that filly.'"

Because of Mott's success with Frank's Rockette, when Fletcher acquired Rocket Can as a post-sale purchase at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale on the recommendation of his bloodstock adviser, Donato Lanni, the owner was eager to place him with Mott.

Fletcher, 80, said he is embracing the experience of owning a horse who earned a starting berth in the Run for the Roses.

"This is big for us; we're a small-town outfit," Fletcher said. "When Rocket Can won the Holy Bull, I went down there with a lot of friends. We ran around and screamed and hollered and jumped up and down when he won. We didn't look like grown men—we looked like sixth graders."

Fletcher is looking to keep the good times rolling when he and about 20 family members join him at Churchill Downs for the 149th Derby. 

"I've got kids and grandkids, so the whole family is coming," he said. "We're excited about this."