2013 Eclipse Awards: Bill Mott

photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

No matter the statistical category, Bill Mott was regularly among the training leaders in 2013. His stable earned more than $11.7 million, placing him fifth; he tied for second among trainers by winning nine Grade 1 races; and his 22 graded stakes victories was third most of North American trainers.Such success is the norm for Mott, 60, who in 1998 at age 45 became the youngest trainer ever inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Among his Grade 1 highlights in 2013: victories in the Personal Ensign and Delaware Handicap with two-time champion Royal Delta; scores from Emollient in the Ashland, Spinster, and American Oaks; two from Close Hatches in the Mother Goose and Cotillion; and wins from Ron the Greek and Flat Out in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Cigar Mile, respectively.

Emollient and Close Hatches ran best of Mott’s four Breeders’ Cup starters last year, with Emollient finishing a close fourth in the Filly and Mare Turf and Close Hatches second in the Distaff.

Although Royal Delta didn’t perform to expectations in finishing a distant fourth in the Distaff, her season was successful, yet below the high standards she established in 2011 and 2012, when she won back-to-back Ladies’ Classics. She is still widely expected to be voted champion older female of 2013, which would mark her third straight Eclipse Award under Mott’s training. Mott is a multiple Eclipse Award winner himself, having been voted outstanding trainer in 1995, 1996, and 2011.