Saratoga: Mott seeks more birthday success

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - First-time Lasix. Turf to dirt. Third start off a layoff. All of those are fine handicapping angles.

But there may not be a more potent wagering strategy than playing trainer Bill Mott on his birthday. Since 1992, Mott has won a race on his birthday in 14 of the 19 Saratoga meets.

Monday, when Mott turns 60, he will have runners in five of the 10 races.

“For a while it actually got to where it felt like a little pressure,” Mott said Saturday. “Now, it’s kind of more like a joke. But a lot of people pay attention to it. I had five people ask me this morning, ‘When’s your birthday?’ ”

If Mott could only win one race Monday he’d sure prefer it to be the Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap with Glorious View, a winner of four straight races. She does have a tall task challenging Dance to Bristol, who has won five straight.

In the second, Mott sends out Flores Island in a 1 1/8-mile maiden dirt race. She has finished second on turf in her last two starts. In her only dirt try, she finished third to Unlimited Budget at Aqueduct.

“It wasn’t a terrible race,” Mott said. “I thought she deserved another chance on dirt.”

In the third, Mott sends out Fevered Kiss, a 3-year-old Smart Strike filly who tries 5 1/2 furlongs on turf after finishing third in a 6 1/2-furlong dirt race first out.

In the fourth, Mott sends out Tech Fall, a 5-year-old gelding who has not been out in 13 months but who definitely fits in this third-level allowance which drew a field of six.

[SARATOGA 2013: Complete meet coverage, exclusive DRF videos]

If he hasn’t won a race by then, Mott sends out Revenue in the ninth, a $20,000 claimer on the turf. This would be the cheapest price for which Revenue has run.