Riley Mott, son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, plans to go out on his own later this year after eight years serving as his father’s assistant trainer.
After taking out a license in Florida, the younger Mott intends to begin running horses in his name this fall.
Born in Hollywood, Florida, Mott grew up on the racing circuit his father traveled, spending springs and summers in New York and winters in Florida. Alongside his wife Megan and nine-month-old daughter Margot, Riley will spend the summer months in Saratoga before moving to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for the Oaklawn meet and then onto Kentucky.
“I learned from an early age that training horses wasn’t just a business, but a lifestyle,” said Mott, 30. “I walked my first horse when I was six years old and immediately developed a love for the game.”
As he grew up, Mott continued to gain experience working in his father’s barn, rubbing horses, walking hots and doing whatever he could to gain experience and responsibility. Eventually he was running the shed row and, in 2014, officially earned the title of assistant trainer, a position in which he still serves.
“Working my way from the ground up in our system was valuable experience for me because it allowed me to earn the respect of my coworkers,” said Mott, who attended the University of Kentucky and majored in economics.
“One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received is not to ask someone to do something in the barn that you can’t do yourself. It’s important to show those you are leading that you’re willing to jump in and work just as hard as they are.”
Forever synonymous with the legendary Cigar, Bill Mott has created a legacy few can rival as one of the most accomplished trainers in North American racing history.
After taking out his trainer’s license at age 15 and notching his first wins before he’d graduated high school, Mott worked his way up the ranks, exercise riding and working as a longtime assistant for fellow Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg before going out on his own in 1978.
Over the years, the three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer has logged wins in 10 Breeders’ Cup races, as well as a multitude of G1 events. He won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup with dual Horse of the Year Cigar, whose 16-race win streak established him as a modern-era US great.
“Following in my dad’s footsteps is something I think about every day,” said Riley. “I hold him in such high regard both personally and professionally. I often use his accomplishments as motivation to step up my game as both a horseman and a human.”
As Riley Mott has developed as a horseman under the guidance of his father, he has developed a keen eye and feel for soundness of equine athletes.
He explained: “We check every leg on every horse before training begins each day, and we put a big emphasis on jogging each horse up prior to training.
Between that and monitoring closely how they’re moving while on track, it gives us a great baseline on each individual horse and allows us to detect the slightest clinical changes in their legs or difference in their gait. This has allowed me to develop a pretty well-trained eye.”
Mott says that several of his father’s owners have offered to support him with horses and he has also started to pick up new clients as he prepares to venture out on his own.
“I have learned so much from working under the boss and everyone else in our operation, but by far the most important lesson I’ve learned from him is that no matter what, it’s all about the horses,” he added.
“You strive to look out for your owners’ best interests and provide a healthy working environment for your staff, but to do that you must do right by your horses. You do that, and the rest will follow.”
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