William "Bill" Mott is a Hall of Fame, American Thoroughbred horse trainer.
He is most well-known for training Hall of Fame runner Cigar, but Mott is also a three-time Eclipse Award winner and was the youngest thoroughbred trainer ever inducted into the Hall of Fame at age 45.
He has consistently sent runners into some of the sport's greatest races, such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Breeders' Cup Mile, Breeders' Cup Classic, Breeders' Cup Turf and many more.
Cigar was just one part of Mott's incredible career. He has trained a number of year-end champions, including names like Ajina, 1997's top three-year-old filly; Escena, 1998's top older female; Theatrical, 1987's top turf male; Paradise Creek, 1994's top turf male; Royal Delta, 2011's top three-year-old filly and top older female in 2012 and 2013; and Close Hatches, 2014's top older female.
One of the trainer's first big achievements came during the 1984 season when he set the record for the number of wins at a single meet (54) at the Churchill Downs track.
Mott received nine training titles at Saratoga Race Course from 1992 through 2007, including the 2007 Saratoga Trainer's Title with 27 victories. It was the first time since 2001 that he had taken that specific accolade. During that same period, he won nine titles at Gulfstream Park and 10 at Belmont Park. On top of all this, he also has five training titles at Keeneland.
The trainer has the most wins among his peers at Churchill Downs too.
Mott also won his 10th Breeders' Cup race with Tourist in the Breeders' Cup Mile in 2016 after winning the Breeders' Cup Turf in 1987 and 1992, the Breeders' Cup Classic (1995 and 2011), and the Breeders' Cup Distaff (1997, 1998, 2010, 2011 and 2012).
Some of Mott's other top horses include names like Grade 1 winners Royal Delta, Channel Maker, Paradise Creek and Elate.
Some of Mott's runners have recently played big roles on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. In 2019, two of his trainees earned enough qualifying points to secure a spot in the gate. Those two horses were Tacitus, winner of the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and Country House, runner-up finisher in the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford.
Mott also had runners on the 2021 Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, including Candy Man Rocket and Nova Rags, but the pair did not feature in the big race at Churchill Downs.
Candy Man Rocket is a Candy Ride colt owned by Frank Fletcher Racing Operations. He has a career record of 2-0-0 from five lifetime starts and total earnings above $144,000. The runner's most notable performance was a victory in the 2021 Sam F. Davis Stakes.
Nova Rags is a Union Rags colt owned by Michael Shanley. He is 2-1-0 from five career outings, and his total purse earnings sit above $145,000. The colt finished behind Candy Man Rocket in the Sam F. Davis Stakes and won the Pasco Stakes. He was also the fourth-place finisher in the 2020 Nashua Stakes.
Planet Sport have all you need to know about 'The Greatest Two Minutes In Sport', as the 149th Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 6.
