Join now & win money today! Get Started

After ‘Tough to Beat’ 2025, Mesingw Farm Ready for More in 2026

---

By any measure, Steve and Denise Smith’s Mesingw Farm, which celebrated just its fifth anniversary in December, had a banner year in 2025. From the sales ring, where the operation sold its first seven-figure yearling, to the racetrack where it had a graded-stakes placed juvenile at Saratoga in August and a Breeders’ Cup starter in November, Mesingw was hitting on all cylinders. The momentum has carried into the new year with the Mesingw-bred Explora (Blame) a leading choice for the GI Kentucky Oaks following her win in the GIII Honeybee Stakes last Sunday. The Smiths will be hoping the success continues in Ocala where they will offer a pair of fillies through Tom McCrocklin’s consignment at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale next week.

“Tough to beat,” Denise Smith said when asked to assess 2025. “It was a pretty darn good year. I don’t think anybody in their right mind would be disappointed in how last year went.”

Denise was a school district superintendent in Saratoga with no involvement in racing when she first started dating Steve, but she quickly joined in on his dream of breeding Thoroughbred racehorses.

“As we started dating and the relationship got more serious, I said one of my dreams was to have a horse farm and breed Thoroughbreds and race them,” Steve recalled. “Long story short, we ended up coming to Kentucky. This is where it all happens. We are happy we did. We bought a small farm in Athens, not too far from Juddmonte. The idea was to have five or six select broodmares. We started with lower level broodmares because we didn’t want to make mistakes with very expensive broodmares.”

What started as a plan for five or six broodmares soon escalated and with a broodmare band that currently numbers some 30 head, Mesingw Farm needed a new home.

“We have had good guidance with people we’ve associated ourselves with,” Steve said. “When were first introduced down here, it was actually Bayne Welker from Fasig-Tipton that we met and got to know and he’s been a guiding person for us all along. He is the one, when we bought the first farm in Athens, who said where you want to be is between Versailles and Midway. We bought too many mares, we outgrew our first farm and we ended up purchasing Lane’s End yearling division farm on Old Frankfurt Pike. They called it the Fort Blackburn Division. That’s where our horses are stabled now.”

Looking back at the farm’s trajectory, Steve added, “There is no why. I just wanted to do it.”

Meringue | Coady Media

The Smiths say their operation is a mix of breed to race and to sell, as exemplified by their success at Saratoga last summer where their homebred Meringue (Frosted) finished second in the GIII Adirondack Stakes just days before they sold a colt by Good Magic for $1.6 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

“That was my dream in the breeding business,” Denise said of the sale result. “To sell a million-dollar yearling. And hopefully at Saratoga, because that’s my home town. That was beyond our wildest expectations.”

As for Steve, he dreams of a victory on the First Friday in May.

“I am filly guy,” he said. “A lot of people ask me if I want to have a Derby horse and I say I want an Oaks horse. I wouldn’t turn down a Derby horse, for sure, but fillies are our thing.”

He could soon check that box, too, if Explora continues on her path towards Churchill Downs. The Smiths purchased Collections Choice (Bernardini), with the future Honeybee winner in utero, for $75,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale. It was a productive sale for the couple, who also purchased Catbrier (Street Sense), with future ‘TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard’ Meringue in utero, for $32,000 at that same auction.

The Smiths sold Explora for $22,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September sale and watched as the filly returned the following year to sell to Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman for $350,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The filly won the GII Oak Leaf Stakes and was second in the GI Del Mar Debutante and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last year before cementing her position near the top of her division in the Honeybee.

“We’re proud of her,” Denise said of Explora. “We wouldn’t be good breeders if we weren’t producing graded stakes winners. That’s the goal for all breeders, to be producing graded stakes winners.”

Steve admitted to some complex emotions watching a horse he bred head towards the Kentucky Oaks carrying someone else’s colors.

“Probably a lot of mixed emotions,” he said. “Obviously, I will be so proud of her. And it will just drive me to try to get there again.”

Explora | Coady Media

The experience of selling Explora and watching her blossom into a graded-stakes winner with Classic ambitions, the Smiths have adjusted their program. When they thought they weren’t getting the best price for their yearlings last fall, they weren’t afraid to bring them home.

“What we did this year was a direct result of Explora,” Steve said. “I should have kept her and got her breezing and evaluated her ability at that stage of the game, even if we would have sold her and stayed in for part.

“So we kind of adjusted our model a bit. It all turns with the yearling market and what we think our yearlings are worth. We try not to be slanted, but we know what we have. We get a chance to see them race around the field, we know how they move. The yearlings we did not think the right number was there on the reserve, we just kept.”

Denise adds, “A good example is Meringue’s half-brother by Oscar Performance. He was in the Keeneland sale and when it came to the day of the sale, he only had four vettings. We were shocked. So we scratched him and sent him into training. He is a good horse and we are not going to devalue him in any way. We know what we have.”

Predictably, the new approach has led to a larger class of newly turned 2-year-olds for the operation, which currently has 19 horses in training. Two of the juveniles who were taken home from the yearling sales last year will hit the track at OBS this week. Scheduled to work Friday is Candy Illusion, a filly by Twirling Candy (hip 453). She is out of Tizanillusion (Tizway), a daughter of graded-placed Hermione’s Magic (Forest Wildcat), and RNA’d for $75,000 at Keeneland last September.

“As soon as Tom McCrocklin realized she didn’t sell, my phone rang right away,” Steve said of Candy Illusion. “He asked what we wanted for this filly. And I said, ‘I am not sure, Tom. I think I am going to keep her, but I will send her to you.’”

Expected to breeze Saturday is Flaming Martini (Flameway) (hip 728), a daughter of Eiswein (Klimt). The Smiths purchased the mare as a yearling and she raced in their Elements Racing colors.

“She broke her maiden first time out and oddly enough, just never ran that race back,” Steve said Eiswein. “So we bred her. We sold the mare in foal last year, but we kept the filly just because we liked her physical.”

For the Smiths, racing is a game of patience and it’s the horses who always come first.

“It took forever to get Stellify (Justify) to the races and we would start with her, have to stop, start with her, have to stop,” Steve says of the graded stakes winner who took them to the Breeders’ Cup last year. “I can’t give enough credit to Brad Cox. He was patient. And he would say the same about us. He would say we are the most patient owners in the world. Really, I am not, but if you don’t have patience in this business, the horses will make you have patience. You just have to take that pill and swallow it and do the best thing for the horse from a physical standpoint.”

That horse-comes-first philosophy starts right with the farm’s name.

“When we moved to Kentucky in December of 2020, we were trying to decide what to name the farm,” Denise said. “I researched the native American history in Central Kentucky and I was reading all of the legends. Mesingw is the spirit guardian of the forest and the animals. He basically tested the character of hunters and young braves who would go into the forest hoping to find him to have their character tested. If they were pure of heart and took good care of the animals and were respectful, then they would have a successful hunt and if they weren’t, if they were greedy or let animals suffer unnecessarily, then he would make accidents happen to them. We kind of liked that. If you treat animals well, they will treat you well.”

If 2025 was anything to go by, it would seem Mesingw is well-pleased with the Smiths. And with Stellify and Meringue still on the bench to resume racing this year, a graduate aiming for the Kentucky Oaks, and a host of racing and sales prospects just getting started, the best could be yet to come for Mesingw Farm.

The post After ‘Tough to Beat’ 2025, Mesingw Farm Ready for More in 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Bill Mott Outlines Plans for Sovereignty, Knightsbridge, Baeza, Chief Wallabee

---

Fresh off an action-packed Saturday at Gulfstream Park, Bill Mott wasted no time returning to the routine at his Payson Park base. The Hall of Fame trainer was back on the track the following morning to oversee Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) progressing toward his 4-year-old debut.

The Godolphin homebred worked four furlongs in company in :49.80. Mott described the breeze as “workmanlike,” noting that it was exactly the type of effort he has come to expect from the three-time Grade I winner.

“He’s not a spectacular workhorse unless you ask him for it,” Mott explained. “He’ll do whatever you want him to do. It’s really what I expected and what I wanted. He finished up well enough and had a useful gallop out.”

After a commanding victory in last year’s GI Travers Stakes, Sovereignty’s sophomore season ended prematurely when he spiked a fever a few days before the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The son of Into Mischief spent some time at Godolphin’s rehabilitation and training barn with Johnny Burke at Keeneland before returning to Mott’s string at Payson just after the first of the year. Sunday’s breeze marked his third work back.

Mott indicated that Sovereignty will likely return to the starting gate in the GII Oaklawn Handicap on April 18. The GII Alysheba on Kentucky Oaks Friday is a secondary option, though that race is also the tentative target for Sovereignty’s new stablemate Baeza (McKinzie). The 4-year-old arrived at Mott’s base two weeks ago following the passing of his previous trainer John Shirreffs.

Baeza breezes for John Shirreffs on Feb. 15, 2026 at Santa Anita | Horsephotos

Of Baeza, who is co-owned by CRK Stable and breeder Grandview Equine, Mott said, “He could potentially go to the Alysheba. I know the Oaklawn Handicap was a consideration for the connections, but we’ve got a ways to go to get him ready.”

Last year, Baeza was third to Sovereignty in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes and runner-up behind him in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes before he earned his own Grade I score in the Pennsylvania Derby. Mott said he plans to keep the two colts separate for as long as the calendar allows, though he acknowledges their paths will converge this fall if all goes according to plan.

“If we have to run against each other, we will,” Mott said. “I don’t like running against myself but they have different ownerships and those people deserve to run their horse where they have the best chance. Eventually the long-term goal would be looking at the end of the year, you hope they have to run against each other in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and you hope they both make it there.”

Baeza recorded his first work for Mott on Feb. 26, going four furlongs in :49.20. The son of 2024 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Puca (Big Brown) was last seen running sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and he recorded three works under Shirreffs earlier this year.

“It was nice to be considered for Baeza, but I wish I wasn’t the trainer of him right now,” Mott shared. “I’m glad to have him in the barn and it’s a feather in our cap that we’ve been chosen, but I’d rather that John had him and be competing against him. We lost one of the good guys and we’ll do the best we can with the horse.”

The Mott barn’s impressive depth in the older dirt male division is further bolstered with the ultra-fast ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’ Knightsbridge (Nyquist), who dominated in last Saturday’s GIII Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes. Another Godolphin homebred, the 5-year-old was under wraps in the stretch of his 11 1/4-length victory and he earned a 112 Beyer Speed Figure.

Knightsbridge and Junior Alvarado dominate in the GIII Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes | Lauren King

Mott reported that Knightsbridge returned to Payson Park in good order and said the next step is to elevate the three-time Grade III winner to Grade I competition. He will likely target the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes on Kentucky Derby day, followed by the GI Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 6.

Knightsbridge was a winner on debut late in his juvenile season and scored a nine-length win at Gulfstream Park in his next start the following March. He was sidelined twice over the next year and a half before getting his first win of the current four-race streak last November.

“We thought we were going to be a big factor in the GII Pat Day Mile, which I was excited to run him a flat mile at Churchill Downs on Derby weekend,” Mott said. “In his last work, he came up with a minor injury and we just had to give him time. We’ve had to do that on more than on occasion, but finally we’ve got three [graded stakes] races in a row with him now. We feel like we have a little momentum and he’s been coming out of those races good, so maybe he’s ready for the stiffer tests that are ahead of him.”

Knightsbridge is a half-brother to Darley sire Speaker’s Corner (Street Sense), who, like his younger sibling, won the GIII W. Fred Hooper Stakes and Gulfstream Park Mile. Mott said he sees similarities between the two grandsons of champion Round Pond (Awesome Again) and added that for now, Knightsbridge will stick to the mile distance.

“Speaker’s Corner was very good at a flat mile, and Knightsbridge has proven that he’s very good at a flat mile,” he noted. “He’s a slightly different body type, but this is a gorgeous horse. Well-muscled, but very balanced. Right now we’ve got no reason to go beyond the mile because there’s a good race at seven furlongs and a good race at a mile. He’s pretty well proven that he can be effective at that and I think it would be foolish to try to stretch him out right now. Perhaps maybe later in the year, we’ll give it a try. I know the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland is a mile, but it’s a two-turn mile, so that’s a little different configuration for any of them that have been running one-turn races.”

Commandment and Chief Wallabee in the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes | Lauren King

A few hours after Knightsbridge put on a show last Saturday, Mott was represented in the feature race by Chief Wallabee (Constitution). The Mott barn, which captured last year’s GII Fountain of Youth Stakes with Sovereignty, had to settle for a hard-fought second this time around. After racing four wide around the turn and dueling with Wathnan Racing’s Commandment (Into Mischief), Chief Wallabee came up a neck short in only his second career start.

“I was very pleased with the effort for him to run that well off of having just one one-turn race ” Mott reported. “He ran more or less a winning race, lost a little bit of ground around the last turn but put in a very nice run. You’d have to believe that he’s going to keep improving a little bit with each race.”

Chief Wallabee is the first horse that Mott has trained for Kentucky-based owners Michael and Katherine Ball, whose most notable runner is multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Limousine Liberal (Successful Appeal).

Mott shared that Chief Wallabee will likely target the March 28 GI Florida Derby.

“There are four or five races to choose from all within four or five weeks from now,” he said. “The easiest one for us to get to would be the Florida Derby. They’ll all be on the list, and we’ll sort it out with the owners and see if we can come up with a plan.”

The post Bill Mott Outlines Plans for Sovereignty, Knightsbridge, Baeza, Chief Wallabee appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

After ‘Tough to Beat’ 2025, Mesingw Farm Ready for More in 2026

---

By any measure, Steve and Denise Smith’s Mesingw Farm, which celebrated just its fifth anniversary in December, had a banner year in 2025. From the sales ring, where the operation sold its first seven-figure yearling, to the racetrack where it had a graded-stakes placed juvenile at Saratoga in August and a Breeders’ Cup starter in November, Mesingw was hitting on all cylinders. The momentum has carried into the new year with the Mesingw-bred Explora (Blame) a leading choice for the GI Kentucky Oaks following her win in the GIII Honeybee Stakes last Sunday. The Smiths will be hoping the success continues in Ocala where they will offer a pair of fillies through Tom McCrocklin’s consignment at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale next week.

“Tough to beat,” Denise Smith said when asked to assess 2025. “It was a pretty darn good year. I don’t think anybody in their right mind would be disappointed in how last year went.”

Denise was a school district superintendent in Saratoga with no involvement in racing when she first started dating Steve, but she quickly joined in on his dream of breeding Thoroughbred racehorses.

“As we started dating and the relationship got more serious, I said one of my dreams was to have a horse farm and breed Thoroughbreds and race them,” Steve recalled. “Long story short, we ended up coming to Kentucky. This is where it all happens. We are happy we did. We bought a small farm in Athens, not too far from Juddmonte. The idea was to have five or six select broodmares. We started with lower level broodmares because we didn’t want to make mistakes with very expensive broodmares.”

What started as a plan for five or six broodmares soon escalated and with a broodmare band that currently numbers some 30 head, Mesingw Farm needed a new home.

“We have had good guidance with people we’ve associated ourselves with,” Steve said. “When were first introduced down here, it was actually Bayne Welker from Fasig-Tipton that we met and got to know and he’s been a guiding person for us all along. He is the one, when we bought the first farm in Athens, who said where you want to be is between Versailles and Midway. We bought too many mares, we outgrew our first farm and we ended up purchasing Lane’s End yearling division farm on Old Frankfurt Pike. They called it the Fort Blackburn Division. That’s where our horses are stabled now.”

Looking back at the farm’s trajectory, Steve added, “There is no why. I just wanted to do it.”

Meringue | Coady Media

The Smiths say their operation is a mix of breed to race and to sell, as exemplified by their success at Saratoga last summer where their homebred Meringue (Frosted) finished second in the GIII Adirondack Stakes just days before they sold a colt by Good Magic for $1.6 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

“That was my dream in the breeding business,” Denise said of the sale result. “To sell a million-dollar yearling. And hopefully at Saratoga, because that’s my home town. That was beyond our wildest expectations.”

As for Steve, he dreams of a victory on the First Friday in May.

“I am filly guy,” he said. “A lot of people ask me if I want to have a Derby horse and I say I want an Oaks horse. I wouldn’t turn down a Derby horse, for sure, but fillies are our thing.”

He could soon check that box, too, if Explora continues on her path towards Churchill Downs. The Smiths purchased Collections Choice (Bernardini), with the future Honeybee winner in utero, for $75,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale. It was a productive sale for the couple, who also purchased Catbrier (Street Sense), with future ‘TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard’ Meringue in utero, for $32,000 at that same auction.

The Smiths sold Explora for $22,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September sale and watched as the filly returned the following year to sell to Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman for $350,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The filly won the GII Oak Leaf Stakes and was second in the GI Del Mar Debutante and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last year before cementing her position near the top of her division in the Honeybee.

“We’re proud of her,” Denise said of Explora. “We wouldn’t be good breeders if we weren’t producing graded stakes winners. That’s the goal for all breeders, to be producing graded stakes winners.”

Steve admitted to some complex emotions watching a horse he bred head towards the Kentucky Oaks carrying someone else’s colors.

“Probably a lot of mixed emotions,” he said. “Obviously, I will be so proud of her. And it will just drive me to try to get there again.”

Explora | Coady Media

The experience of selling Explora and watching her blossom into a graded-stakes winner with Classic ambitions, the Smiths have adjusted their program. When they thought they weren’t getting the best price for their yearlings last fall, they weren’t afraid to bring them home.

“What we did this year was a direct result of Explora,” Steve said. “I should have kept her and got her breezing and evaluated her ability at that stage of the game, even if we would have sold her and stayed in for part.

“So we kind of adjusted our model a bit. It all turns with the yearling market and what we think our yearlings are worth. We try not to be slanted, but we know what we have. We get a chance to see them race around the field, we know how they move. The yearlings we did not think the right number was there on the reserve, we just kept.”

Denise adds, “A good example is Meringue’s half-brother by Oscar Performance. He was in the Keeneland sale and when it came to the day of the sale, he only had four vettings. We were shocked. So we scratched him and sent him into training. He is a good horse and we are not going to devalue him in any way. We know what we have.”

Predictably, the new approach has led to a larger class of newly turned 2-year-olds for the operation, which currently has 19 horses in training. Two of the juveniles who were taken home from the yearling sales last year will hit the track at OBS this week. Scheduled to work Friday is Candy Illusion, a filly by Twirling Candy (hip 453). She is out of Tizanillusion (Tizway), a daughter of graded-placed Hermione’s Magic (Forest Wildcat), and RNA’d for $75,000 at Keeneland last September.

“As soon as Tom McCrocklin realized she didn’t sell, my phone rang right away,” Steve said of Candy Illusion. “He asked what we wanted for this filly. And I said, ‘I am not sure, Tom. I think I am going to keep her, but I will send her to you.’”

Expected to breeze Saturday is Flaming Martini (Flameway) (hip 728), a daughter of Eiswein (Klimt). The Smiths purchased the mare as a yearling and she raced in their Elements Racing colors.

“She broke her maiden first time out and oddly enough, just never ran that race back,” Steve said Eiswein. “So we bred her. We sold the mare in foal last year, but we kept the filly just because we liked her physical.”

For the Smiths, racing is a game of patience and it’s the horses who always come first.

“It took forever to get Stellify (Justify) to the races and we would start with her, have to stop, start with her, have to stop,” Steve says of the graded stakes winner who took them to the Breeders’ Cup last year. “I can’t give enough credit to Brad Cox. He was patient. And he would say the same about us. He would say we are the most patient owners in the world. Really, I am not, but if you don’t have patience in this business, the horses will make you have patience. You just have to take that pill and swallow it and do the best thing for the horse from a physical standpoint.”

That horse-comes-first philosophy starts right with the farm’s name.

“When we moved to Kentucky in December of 2020, we were trying to decide what to name the farm,” Denise said. “I researched the native American history in Central Kentucky and I was reading all of the legends. Mesingw is the spirit guardian of the forest and the animals. He basically tested the character of hunters and young braves who would go into the forest hoping to find him to have their character tested. If they were pure of heart and took good care of the animals and were respectful, then they would have a successful hunt and if they weren’t, if they were greedy or let animals suffer unnecessarily, then he would make accidents happen to them. We kind of liked that. If you treat animals well, they will treat you well.”

If 2025 was anything to go by, it would seem Mesingw is well-pleased with the Smiths. And with Stellify and Meringue still on the bench to resume racing this year, a graduate aiming for the Kentucky Oaks, and a host of racing and sales prospects just getting started, the best could be yet to come for Mesingw Farm.

The post After ‘Tough to Beat’ 2025, Mesingw Farm Ready for More in 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Bill Mott Outlines Plans for Sovereignty, Knightsbridge, Baeza, Chief Wallabee

---

Fresh off an action-packed Saturday at Gulfstream Park, Bill Mott wasted no time returning to the routine at his Payson Park base. The Hall of Fame trainer was back on the track the following morning to oversee Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) progressing toward his 4-year-old debut.

The Godolphin homebred worked four furlongs in company in :49.80. Mott described the breeze as “workmanlike,” noting that it was exactly the type of effort he has come to expect from the three-time Grade I winner.

“He’s not a spectacular workhorse unless you ask him for it,” Mott explained. “He’ll do whatever you want him to do. It’s really what I expected and what I wanted. He finished up well enough and had a useful gallop out.”

After a commanding victory in last year’s GI Travers Stakes, Sovereignty’s sophomore season ended prematurely when he spiked a fever a few days before the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The son of Into Mischief spent some time at Godolphin’s rehabilitation and training barn with Johnny Burke at Keeneland before returning to Mott’s string at Payson just after the first of the year. Sunday’s breeze marked his third work back.

Mott indicated that Sovereignty will likely return to the starting gate in the GII Oaklawn Handicap on April 18. The GII Alysheba on Kentucky Oaks Friday is a secondary option, though that race is also the tentative target for Sovereignty’s new stablemate Baeza (McKinzie). The 4-year-old arrived at Mott’s base two weeks ago following the passing of his previous trainer John Shirreffs.

Baeza breezes for John Shirreffs on Feb. 15, 2026 at Santa Anita | Horsephotos

Of Baeza, who is co-owned by CRK Stable and breeder Grandview Equine, Mott said, “He could potentially go to the Alysheba. I know the Oaklawn Handicap was a consideration for the connections, but we’ve got a ways to go to get him ready.”

Last year, Baeza was third to Sovereignty in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes and runner-up behind him in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes before he earned his own Grade I score in the Pennsylvania Derby. Mott said he plans to keep the two colts separate for as long as the calendar allows, though he acknowledges their paths will converge this fall if all goes according to plan.

“If we have to run against each other, we will,” Mott said. “I don’t like running against myself but they have different ownerships and those people deserve to run their horse where they have the best chance. Eventually the long-term goal would be looking at the end of the year, you hope they have to run against each other in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and you hope they both make it there.”

Baeza recorded his first work for Mott on Feb. 26, going four furlongs in :49.20. The son of 2024 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Puca (Big Brown) was last seen running sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and he recorded three works under Shirreffs earlier this year.

“It was nice to be considered for Baeza, but I wish I wasn’t the trainer of him right now,” Mott shared. “I’m glad to have him in the barn and it’s a feather in our cap that we’ve been chosen, but I’d rather that John had him and be competing against him. We lost one of the good guys and we’ll do the best we can with the horse.”

The Mott barn’s impressive depth in the older dirt male division is further bolstered with the ultra-fast ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’ Knightsbridge (Nyquist), who dominated in last Saturday’s GIII Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes. Another Godolphin homebred, the 5-year-old was under wraps in the stretch of his 11 1/4-length victory and he earned a 112 Beyer Speed Figure.

Knightsbridge and Junior Alvarado dominate in the GIII Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes | Lauren King

Mott reported that Knightsbridge returned to Payson Park in good order and said the next step is to elevate the three-time Grade III winner to Grade I competition. He will likely target the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes on Kentucky Derby day, followed by the GI Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 6.

Knightsbridge was a winner on debut late in his juvenile season and scored a nine-length win at Gulfstream Park in his next start the following March. He was sidelined twice over the next year and a half before getting his first win of the current four-race streak last November.

“We thought we were going to be a big factor in the GII Pat Day Mile, which I was excited to run him a flat mile at Churchill Downs on Derby weekend,” Mott said. “In his last work, he came up with a minor injury and we just had to give him time. We’ve had to do that on more than on occasion, but finally we’ve got three [graded stakes] races in a row with him now. We feel like we have a little momentum and he’s been coming out of those races good, so maybe he’s ready for the stiffer tests that are ahead of him.”

Knightsbridge is a half-brother to Darley sire Speaker’s Corner (Street Sense), who, like his younger sibling, won the GIII W. Fred Hooper Stakes and Gulfstream Park Mile. Mott said he sees similarities between the two grandsons of champion Round Pond (Awesome Again) and added that for now, Knightsbridge will stick to the mile distance.

“Speaker’s Corner was very good at a flat mile, and Knightsbridge has proven that he’s very good at a flat mile,” he noted. “He’s a slightly different body type, but this is a gorgeous horse. Well-muscled, but very balanced. Right now we’ve got no reason to go beyond the mile because there’s a good race at seven furlongs and a good race at a mile. He’s pretty well proven that he can be effective at that and I think it would be foolish to try to stretch him out right now. Perhaps maybe later in the year, we’ll give it a try. I know the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland is a mile, but it’s a two-turn mile, so that’s a little different configuration for any of them that have been running one-turn races.”

Commandment and Chief Wallabee in the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes | Lauren King

A few hours after Knightsbridge put on a show last Saturday, Mott was represented in the feature race by Chief Wallabee (Constitution). The Mott barn, which captured last year’s GII Fountain of Youth Stakes with Sovereignty, had to settle for a hard-fought second this time around. After racing four wide around the turn and dueling with Wathnan Racing’s Commandment (Into Mischief), Chief Wallabee came up a neck short in only his second career start.

“I was very pleased with the effort for him to run that well off of having just one one-turn race ” Mott reported. “He ran more or less a winning race, lost a little bit of ground around the last turn but put in a very nice run. You’d have to believe that he’s going to keep improving a little bit with each race.”

Chief Wallabee is the first horse that Mott has trained for Kentucky-based owners Michael and Katherine Ball, whose most notable runner is multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Limousine Liberal (Successful Appeal).

Mott shared that Chief Wallabee will likely target the March 28 GI Florida Derby.

“There are four or five races to choose from all within four or five weeks from now,” he said. “The easiest one for us to get to would be the Florida Derby. They’ll all be on the list, and we’ll sort it out with the owners and see if we can come up with a plan.”

The post Bill Mott Outlines Plans for Sovereignty, Knightsbridge, Baeza, Chief Wallabee appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.