Mott enjoys big weekend with stakes fillies

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – All was good at trainer Bill Mott’s barn Sunday morning at Saratoga, as well it should be.

The previous afternoon, Mott sent out Paris Lights and Antoinette to finish first and third, respectively, here in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks as well as Horologist, just a little while later, to capture the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher at Monmouth. He also had a couple of his recent graded stakes winners, Tacitus and Frank’s Rockette, work earlier Sunday morning for upcoming Grade 1 races here later in the season.

Paris Lights survived a stretch-long duel with Crystal Ball before registering a well-deserved victory by a head in the Coaching Club American Oaks, the third win in succession for the lightly raced and only once-beaten filly who posted a lifetime-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance. Antoinette raced within easy striking distance of the leaders but could not kick on with the top pair at the end, finishing nearly five lengths farther back in third.

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“They’re good this morning, they look good, and I’m happy with them,” Mott said shortly after training hours Sunday. “We’ll nominate them for the next one [Grade 1 Alabama on Aug. 15] and take it from there. The other filly – I’m talking about Antoinette – she can be nominated for a turf race as well, and if they come off, she’d be in good shape, too. She kind of does both. That’s how she won her previous stakes.”

WinStar Stablemates Racing own both Paris Lights and Crystal Ball, the latter stabled regularly on the West Coast with trainer Bob Baffert. Mott said he kidded WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden later that evening about having run the two fillies against one another in the Coaching Club American Oaks.

“I was getting on Elliott a little. I said, ‘Don’t they have a race out in California for the other filly, they don’t have any 3-year-old filly races out there? You had to bring her to New York? We could have been three lengths on the lead just cruising instead of like this, and we almost got beat,’ ” Mott said with a laugh.

As for Horologist, she earned a career-best 100 Beyer for her two-length victory in the Molly Pitcher after having been eased in her previous outing in the Grade 2 Santa Maria at Santa Anita. The win was the fifth in as many starts for Horologist over the main track at Monmouth.

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“That was very satisfying,” Mott said referring to Horologist’s performance on the Jersey Shore the previous day. “She was eased in her last start. I don’t know what happened, but she’s trained okay here since, and she loves Monmouth. The owners wanted to go to Monmouth because they knew she was 4 for 4 there, and they made a nice call.”

Tacitus and Frank’s Rockette returned to the work tab for the first time since posting big victories at Belmont on July 4. Tacitus was an 8 3/4-length winner of the Grade 2 Suburban, while Frank’s Rockette came within a tick of the track record with her hard-fought tally in the Grade 3 Victory Ride.

Tacitus breezed four furlongs in 49.83 seconds over the Saratoga training track Sunday, while Frank’s Rockette posted a nearly identical 49.78 clocking going the same distance a bit later in the morning down at Belmont Park.

“Tacticus was all on the bridle, just an easy work,” Mott said. “I did nominate him for the Whitney, I put his name in the hat, but we’ll probably wait for the [Grade 1] Woodward [on Sept. 5] unless the Whitney comes up a two-horse field or something. I think we may skip the Test and go to the [Grade 2] Prioress [also on Sept. 5] with Frank’s Rockette, just to give her a little more time as well.”