Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes this year with Godolphin homebred Sovereignty, and Mott has long associations with the colt's family. He sent out great-granddam Sluice for her career debut in July 2000, and has since handled multiple generations of the family leading to this year's success. Mott and Godolphin scratched Sovereignty from this week's Breeders' Cup Classic after Sovereignty developed a temperature in midweek. Mott was left with just one Breeders' Cup entrant - Juddmonte homebred Scylla, a mare whose family he also has deep connections with, having trained her champion dam Close Hatches and a number of other family members. Scylla lived up to her regal lineage, carrying Juddmonte’s colors to a 5 1/2-length win in the Breeders' Cup Distaff on Saturday at Del Mar and landing Mott in the winner’s circle with a smile. “Scylla did it for us,” Mott said in the post-race press conference. “She's from a family that I've been lucky enough to have other siblings with, with us, and she's out of a mare that was a champion for us. It's really great to be a part of that and to be able to carry on the tradition.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Mott trained Close Hatches, a Juddmonte homebred by First Defence and out of Rising Tornado, to win five Grade 1 races, finish second in the 2013 Distaff to Hall of Famer Beholder, and earn the 2014 Eclipse Award as outstanding older female. The mare is now the dam of four winners from five starters, with three stakes winners - all by Tapit, and all trained by Mott. Tacitus earned more than $2.2 million while winning three Grade 2 events and earning multiple Grade 1 placings; Batten Down won last year's Grade 3 Ohio Derby. Scylla is the mare's first Grade 1 winner, and it was a long time coming. The 5-year-old was already multiple graded stakes winner of the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis and Grade 3 Shawnee, but had knocked on the door of the top level around both one and two turns, finishing second in the Grade 1 Ballerina twice, second in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch, and third in the Grade 1 Spinster in October in her final prep for the Distaff. She put it all together in her planned career finale, and also finishes up with more than $2.2 million in earnings. “It is tremendously satisfying, I think even more so with this filly, because I don't know how many times Bill and I have discussed it, we've had a lot of Grade 1 winners over the years that I felt weren't nearly as good a racehorse as Scylla was,” Juddmonte’s Garrett O’Rourke said. “And she showed up and ran fantastic races behind some very exceptional horses. It was disappointing that we hadn't gotten it done, but if you're going to do it, what a day to do it.” This is the latest Distaff success for this family. Close Hatches’ full sister Lockdown was a stakes winner for Mott. As a broodmare, she is the dam of two-time Eclipse Award champion Idiomatic, saddled by Brad Cox to a victory in the 2023 Distaff. Meanwhile, Close Hatches has 3-year-old Resurge, by Constitution – a son of Tapit – on the track for Juddmonte and Mott; he was third in his most recent start. The mare has 2-year-old filly Crowning Glory, by Uncle Mo, next in the pipeline. She has a yearling filly and a weanling colt by Gun Runner, and was bred back to that stallion for next year’s foal. “Close Hatches has never had a bad day,” O’Rourke said. “She always looked magnificent. She always had a lovely temperament, and she became a champion. Now Tacitus, Batten Down, Scylla … She has some more to come that are just lovely. She's just a gift that keeps on giving.” *** The 14 Breeders’ Cup winners on Friday and Saturday at Del Mar were by 14 different stallions – but there were some close ties among them. Six-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief sired Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and likely divisional champion Ted Noffey. The following day, Into Mischief’s son Audible sired Filly and Mare Sprint winner Splendora. Juvenile Fillies winner Super Corredora is by Hall of Famer Gun Runner, while Florida-bred Sprint winner Bentornato is by Valiant Minister. Both those stallions are sons of the stalwart Candy Ride. *** The late Darling My Darling, a Grade 1-placed stakes winner in her own right, produced an exacta of sorts in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, as the top two finishers are out of two of her daughters. Darling My Darling, who died earlier this year at age 28, is the dam of Forever Darling, who produced Forever Young, and of Heavenly Love, the dam of Sierra Leone. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.