Bill Mott Stable Tour

The Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott ranks top ten all-time in North America in wins and purse-money won. His 12 Breeders’ Cup wins tie him for sixth all-time. 

This year, live on Sky Sports Racing, he has six entrants including defending Dirt Mile winner Cody’s Wish and Sprint winner Elite Power.

GALA BRAND (Juvenile Fillies Turf) 

Began career with impressive off-the-pace wins at Saratoga in a maiden race and then the Grade 3 With Anticipation, the latter in which she defeated males.

Could not overcome slow pace when fourth to Hard to Justify in Grade 2 Miss Grillo.

“I think she’ll appreciate the firm ground and I think she’ll appreciate it if there’s a little more pace than there was the last time,” Mott said. “She’s not one to sit up on the pace. I don’t know that she has to be back quite as far as she was the other day.”

JUST F Y I (Juvenile Fillies)

Daughter of Justify is two from two. After just getting up in final strides to win her debut going six furlongs at Saratoga on Travers Day, she successfully stretched out to one mile, winning the Grade 1 Frizette by 3 3-4 lengths in the slop on October 7th.

Mott said the way she won the Frizette gives him hope that more distance is going to be better for Just F Y I.

“When she crossed the wire, she was just getting going,” Mott said. “She was striding out. I think she’s an exciting filly. If all is well and she comes out of this good, I think she’ll be a nice filly for next year.”

CODY’S WISH (Dirt Mile)

Last year’s Dirt Mile winner, Cody’s Wish won two Grade 1 stakes including the prestigious Metropolitan Handicap to kick off his five-year-old campaign.

After failing to stretch out in the Grade 1 Whitney at 1 1-8 miles, Cody’s Wish turned back to seven furlongs winning the Grade 2 Vosburgh at Aqueduct.

“It wasn’t one of those wow [performances],” Mott said. “He had to work for it. Slow pace, got off a little bad, got up in close position and I thought he was getting away from at the wire. He didn’t zing by them because they kept running in front of him because the pace wasn’t fast. He was good enough to get it done.”

His recent training suggests Cody’s Wish is coming into the Dirt Mile on top of his game.

WAR LIKE GODDESS (Turf)

Distance is the key for this six-year-old mare, who finished third in last year’s Turf after finishing third in the 2021 Filly and Mare Turf at going 1 1-4 miles.

Mott believes War Like Goddess is better at 1 1-2 miles and though he acknowledges the Turf is probably the tougher race compared to the Filly and Mare Turf, he feels her best chance is in the Turf.

“I think we’ve been beaten a mile-and-a-three-sixteenths and a mile and a quarter, I’d just as soon go a mile and a half,” Mott said.

War Like Goddess was very impressive beating the boys in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct, thought the was run over soft ground, her preferred surface.

ELITE POWER (Sprint)

Put together an eight-race winning streak included a victory in last year’s BC Sprint and continued with wins in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint, Grade 2 True North at Belmont and Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga.

The streak was snapped when he finished second to Gunite in the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga.

“If you look at the last one, why did he get beat?” Mott said. “Well, there was a lack of pace, it was seven-eighths of a mile, he tried to come up the inside and he was coming off a huge race the time before. Maybe he did the bounce thing. He had run a huge race to beat [Gunite] the time before, he got on his belly. It was probably one of the most impressive races I saw at Saratoga.

“I don’t have any lack of confidence in him,” Mott said. “Look, it’s a horse race, we got to go over there and they got to do it and have a good trip, but I have no reason to believe he’s not as good as he was last year.”

CASA CREED (Mile)

The seven-year-old enters his fourth straight Breeders’ Cup in excellent form, having won the Grade 3 Kelso at Belmont and the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga. 

Casa Creed hasn’t had much luck in the Breeders’ Cup but two of those tries were at Keeneland, a course at which he hasn’t shown his best at.

“The turf is all about the trip and post position,” Mott said. “We think he’s a pretty good horse which we’ve seen. …You got have to have the golden trip, you got to get lucky because everybody in there is a nice horse. Half the horses can win.”

Mott said the near three months between races is by design.

“He runs well fresh, that was on purpose,” Mott said.