Bill Mott looks to win on his birthday...again
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Typically, the same day Bill Mott becomes one year older — July 29 — is the same day the Hall of Fame trainer adds another win or two at Saratoga Race Course.
It’s become a popular angle for many horseplayers: bet Bill Mott on his birthday. He’s got to win at least one; he’ll probably win a couple.
At least that’s how it’s gone for the last 22 years or so.
Mott’s won at least one race on his birthday at Saratoga for 16 of the last 22 years, excluding dark days when there is no racing. That’s nearly 73%.
And he’ll take at least a couple shots this year on his 65th birthday, too.
“If we have horses that fit, we like to run,” Mott said. “And this year we do have a few to run.”
Mott will send out horses in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th race on Sunday, just days after the Mott-trained Hofburg romped over a sloppy track as he prepares to run in this year’s Travers Stakes on August 25.
Arch of Troy will start the day for the Mott barn in Race 2, followed by Glossy in the 3rd, Rotate in the 4th, My Bronx Tail and Length in the 5th, as well as MTO entry Anazara, and closing out the day for the barn with Own Agenda in the 6th.
“We’re in with some chances,” he said. “We’re not laying over the field or anything, but we’ve got some horses that seem they are in where they belong.”
Last year’s birthday win for Mott, with Good Samaritan taking the Grade II Jim Dandy by nearly 5 lengths, was a pretty good one, but, birthday or not, capturing the Jim Dandy is always going to be a celebratory feat.
Mott could go without the birthday buzz, he jokingly admitted of the coincidental win streak.
“It’s more of a pain in the ass than anything,” he said, “because I get a lot of people asking me which one is going to win. We’re just hoping to win one on the day.”
And, while it’s just another day at the office for Bill Mott — seven potential runners spanning five races on the Saratoga card — Mott will also be able to spend time with family, including his brothers who came into town to visit— one from California and the other from South Dakota.
“It just happens to be my birthday,” he said assertively.
As for Hofburg, who just came off an impressive win in the slop in Friday’s Curlin Stakes and is aimed at the Mid-Summer Derby, he came out of Friday’s race in good condition and Mott was happy to see how the 3-year-old son of Tapit handled the wet track, he said.
“He didn’t like (the wet track) as much as he did at Churchill, but he showed that we don’t have to shy away from a wet track,” he said. “Travers is the plan.”