SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga was like a home game for Bill Mott, and the Hall of Fame trainer certainly took advantage of the situation, winning two races on Friday and two more Saturday including the Grade 2 True North with a dazzling performance by Baby Yoda. Unfortunately for Mott, that success was tempered somewhat by the disappointing efforts of Just F Y I in Friday’s Acorn, and Resilience the following afternoon in the Belmont. Both were virtually eased to the finish far behind the winner in their respective races. “We won four races and had a couple of seconds and such including Bendoog in the Suburban on Friday and Saturday,” said Mott while watching a set of his horses gallop by on a soggy Sunday morning at Saratoga. “And I thought Belmont day in Saratoga was fabulous. It might have been as crowded here as I’ve ever seen just walking through the place. I loved it. I was satisfied with everything this week except, of course, my Acorn and Belmont. That kind of puts a damper on it a little bit.” Mott couldn’t have been happier with the 6-year-old Baby Yoda, who turned back the clock to the summer of 2021, when he earned a 114 Beyer Speed Figure winning an allowance race over this track in just his fourth career start, with his six-length victory in the 6 1/2-furlong True North.  Baby Yoda dominated a field that included Grade 1 winner Gun Pilot for his fourth win in six lifetime starts at Saratoga. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  “He ran beyond expectations,” Mott admitted. “He was no good in Florida this winter. Of course he’s a Florida-bred, so he doesn’t run any good down there. He started to look and do better once coming north, horses ebb and flow that way. And he just loves Saratoga. My owners are enthusiastic and wanted to run in this race and I agreed. But I thought it was a very tough spot.  I watched that horse (Gun Pilot) of Steve’s (Asmussen) win the Grade 1 at Churchill. I don’t know why he didn’t run yesterday, he’s a better horse than that.”     Mott said the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga on July 27 would likely be under consideration for Baby Yoda’s next start. Mott was taken aback a bit, although not entirely surprised, when informed Sunday that Arthur’s Ride had received a 111 Beyer Speed Figure for his 12 3/4-length allowance win going 1 1/4 miles two days earlier. The victory was the third in the last four starts for Arthur’s Ride, who rebounded from the only poor performance of his career, a ninth-place finish over a sloppy track five weeks ago at Churchill Downs. “Really, 111, he was faster than the Belmont?” was Mott’s original reaction to the news of Arthur’s Ride’s impressive Beyer Figure.  “Well I knew he ran two seconds faster than the Suburban, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Especially since the track wasn’t any slower Saturday than Friday. His previous race at Churchill Downs was a total throw-out. That track is the worst in the world when it’s muddy. And he did run off and win like that in his previous start in Florida.” Mott said he’d love to bring the 4-year-old Arthur’s Ride back at 1 1/4 miles, if he can find the suitable spot. “Most of the major races back up in distance, like the Whitney, which is a mile and one eighth,” Mott said. “I guess there is the Jockey Club Gold Cup at the end of the (Saratoga) meet. We might think about that.”       The development of Arthur’s Ride gives Mott a second potential candidate later this summer for the Gold Cup along with Bendoog, who was run down in deep stretch by Crupi to finish second in the Suburban. “Bendoog ran well, although he might just be better going a little shorter, although it looks like anywhere between nine and 10 furlongs he’s okay,” Mott noted.     Along with Baby Yoda, Mott also finds himself with another potential major player in the sprint division, the up-and-coming 3-year-old Jefferson Street, who registered an eight-length, entry-level allowance win going 6 1/2 furlongs on Friday for which he earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure. “We were high on this horse before we ran him, so to see him perform like that was very satisfying and not totally surprising,” Mott said. “In those type of 3-year-old races, once you get through the first condition, you might as well go in a stakes, so we’ll probably think about the Amsterdam (Grade 2, also at 6 1/2 furlongs, on July 26) and see if he’s ready for something like that.”     As for Resilience and Just F Y I, Mott is still scratching his head and looking for answers to their uncharacteristically poor efforts in the Belmont and Acorn. “Resilience looked good this morning, I’m just going to continue to look for something because he trained so well and it was weird the way he ran,” Mott said. “He got the spot and the trip we wanted, and just came up empty. If he finished fourth or fifth and got beat five or six lengths, I would have said he couldn’t handle the distance or wasn’t good enough. To have him run like that, I just don’t know what to think.”     Mott felt the same way about Just F Y I, who set a rapid pace before tiring badly to finish sixth, 22 lengths behind Thorpedo Anna. It marked the first time the reigning juvenile fillies champion had finished worse than second in six starts. “We’re going to get her checked out, have some diagnostics done on her, because that was very unusual for her,” Mott continued. “I know she went along pretty quick up front, but the winner was right on her hip all the way.”  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.