Bill Mott

FIRST CALL BOB (c, 4, Uncle Mo--Walk Close {GSW, $294,458}, by Tapit) was late to the races, but he was first home on this unveiling. Giving the gate crew some trouble before the start, they finally managed to convince him to load and he broke well to push the leading pair until about the half-mile marker. Taking over at the three-eighths as Mainstream (Speightstown) tried to mount a response, the 9-2 shot kicked away from his would-be challengers and won by 3 1/4 lengths over Love'em Or Liam (Liam's Map)...

4th-GP, $84K, Msw, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:49 p.m. ET. Star Actress (Justify), a full-sister to champion 2-year-old filly and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Just F Y I, gets her career started for Hall of Famer Bill Mott. The George Krikorian homebred will exit from post one with Junior Alvarado in the irons. She worked five furlongs from the gate in 1:03 (1/3) at Payson Park Jan. 23. The aforementioned Just F Y I brought $4.5 million from Katsumi Yoshida at the 2025 Fasig-Tipton November sale. TJCIS PPS

6th-GP, $84K, Msw, 4yo/up, f&m, 1m, 2:49 p.m. ET. In early June last summer, SPIRIT OF HOPE (Street Sense) worked toward her first start for trainer Bill Mott at Saratoga. The filly was tabbed as a 'main track only' entrant for a maiden special weight, but was unable to draw into the race. Given some more time through the fall, the Godolphin homebred is ready for her unveiling here. Out of highly productive mare Dance Card (Tapit), the first-time starter's half-siblings include Horse of the Year & current sire Cody's...

Commandment (Into Mischief), a dominating winner of the Mucho Macho Man S. Jan. 3, will make his next start in the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park Feb. 28. The Wathnan Racing colorbearer returned to the worktab for trainer Brad Cox with a four-furlong breeze in :50.60 (16/27) at Payson Park Jan. 23. "Not long after the Mucho Macho Man, Brad (Cox) was thinking about the Fountain of Youth as a spaced-out target," said Case Clay, Wathnan's Racing Manager, USA. "He looks great and Brad's happy with...

Jockey Junior Alvarado and trainer Bill Mott partnered up again for another win on Saturday's Pegasus World Cup card as Grand Job (Justify) romped home as the favorite in the GII Inside Information Stakes. Bred in Kentucky but debuted as a 2-year-old in Ireland for then-trainer Joseph O'Brien, the daughter of Coolmore super-sire Justify hit the board in three of four starts but failed to break through for the win. Imported to North America as a 3-year-old, Grand Job found her footing in her first start for newly-crowned Eclipse-winning trainer...

According to a story by David Grening in the Daily Racing Form, according to trainer Bill Mott, the main goal in 2026 for the newly minted Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) will be the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Mott said that while he has not yet mapped out a schedule for Sovereignty, he has already ruled out a start in the March 28 GI Dubai World Cup. That news came as somewhat of a surprise considering that Sovereignty's owner, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is Vice President...

The podium at the 55th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony was awash in Godolphin blue Thursday, with a homebred from that global bloodstock powerhouse, Sovereignty (Into Mischief), running away with both Horse of the Year and 3-year-old male championship honors. Sovereignty's on-track tour de force included emphatic Grade I victories in the 2025 Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes, and those headline-grabbing wins helped to trigger a cascade of accolades for the colt's human connections. Godolphin took home its sixth straight Eclipse recognition as outstanding owner and its fifth consecutive...

Sovereignty (Into Mischief) capped off yet another massive evening at the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's far-flung Godolphin operation, capping the festivities at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, by being named America's Horse of the Year for 2025 by a wide margin. It marks the second time in three years that a horse bred and raced by Godolphin stole the show, following on from Cody's Wish (Curlin), who took down top honors in 2023. Godolphin was also named outstanding owner and breeder Thursday...

Bill Mott, who brought along Champion 3-Year-Old Male Sovereignty (Into Mischief) to wins in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont, and Travers, has been been given the Eclipse Award for Best Trainer. In addition to Sovereignty, Mott also trainer 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Scylla (Tapit) to a win in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff. From 662 starts, Mott finished out 2025 with a record of 106-85-97 and earnings of $17,165,020. This is Mott's fifth Eclipse Award; he was previously honored in 2024, 2011, 1996 and 1995, 1996.

GI Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) has been named the top 3-Year-Old Male and GI Alabama Stakes winner Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) as top 3-Year-Old Filly in their respective categories at the Eclipse Awards. Beaten just once in 2025 when second in the GI Curlin Florida Derby, Sovereignty wrapped up his year with wins in the Derby, the GI Belmont Stakes, the GII Jim Dandy Stakes and the GI DraftKings Travers Stakes, earning more than $5,600,000 in six starts for owner/breeder Godolphin and trainer Bill Mott. Nitrogen began her year...

BLACK CHERRY (f, 3, Liam's Map--Summer Raven {GSW, $168,910}, by Summer Squall) entered this contest with a bullet work to her name in preparation for her debut, and the betting public liked her to the tune of 7-2 odds as the race came off the turf in favor of the Tapeta. Breaking on top to show the way through an opening quarter in :21.77, she was still at the head of affairs as the field swung off the bend for the homeward run. Bracing as challenges arrived on both sides,...

Accoring to DRF Formulator statistics, from near-enough a 100-horse sample, Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott strikes with about five percent of his first-starters, but Wathnan Racing's THUNDEROUSLY (c, 3, Gun Runner--Princess Warrior, by Midshipman) made it two very taking debut scorers Saturday at Gulfstream when he kicked off his career in rousing fashion around two turns. Off at odds of 19-5, the $300,000 Keeneland September purchase bounced alertly from gate three and settled midfield on the inside as Ramajay (Knicks Go) galloped them along through even sectionals. Given the...