By David Grening, Daily Racing Form
It must be nice to run arguably the fastest horse in training on a Saturday afternoon and come back Sunday morning and work the reigning Horse of the Year.
“Yeah, we’re pretty fortunate,” trainer Bill Mott said.
Mott is fortunate to be the trainer of Sovereignty, the 2025 Horse of the Year who on Sunday morning worked a half-mile in 49.64 seconds at Payson Park as he prepares for his 4-year-old campaign. That work came approximately 19 hours after Mott sent out Knightsbridge to an 11 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile at Gulfstream Park.
It was the fourth consecutive victory for Knightsbridge, who also won the Mr. Prospector and Fred Hooper - both Grade 3 stakes - at this meet. Knightsbridge earned a 112 Beyer Speed Figure for his performance in the Gulfstream Park Mile, in which he was relatively geared down late by jockey Junior Alvarado. That’s the highest Beyer figure since Sovereignty earned a 115 winning the Travers by 10 lengths.
As fast as Knightsbridge ran in the Gulfstream Park Mile, Mott said the challenges figure to get tougher as he wades into Grade 1 waters in races such as the $1 million Churchill Downs on May 2 and then presumably the $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 6.
“He’s got more to prove,” Mott said Sunday morning at his Payson Park base. “The goal would be to try and win a Grade 1 with him. He’s fast, he’s well bred, that’s the goal with him.”
Knightsbridge is a half-brother to Speaker’s Corner, who in 2022 won the Fred Hooper and Gulfstream Park Mile, then went on to win the Grade 1 Carter at Aqueduct. The Carter, which will be run on April 4, was downgraded to a Grade 2 in 2024.
Meanwhile, Sovereignty had his third officially timed workout on Sunday morning. Under exercise rider Jimmy Quispe, Sovereignty started a length behind Royal Majesty and finished a length in front while galloping out five furlongs in 1:03.88 over a good track.
“I thought he looked great,” Mott said. “He’s been off a while. You’d want six or eight works in him before you run him, I’d think.”
Mott said the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap on April 18 is a likely return spot for Sovereignty, who hasn’t run since his 10-length victory in the Travers on Aug. 23. He was forced to miss the Breeders’ Cup Classic due to a fever.
Sovereignty returned to Mott at Payson Park the first week in January after spending about seven weeks at Keeneland under the tutelage of Johnny Burke.
“He didn’t do a lot in the 60 days after the Breeders’ Cup, it was just pretty light training,” Mott said.
Mott recently took over the training of Grade 1-winner Baeza, who was moved to him after the death of the colt’s previous trainer John Shirreffs. On Thursday, Baeza had his first workout for Mott - and fourth since resuming training - going a half-mile in 49.20 seconds at Payson Park. Baeza, who last year ran third to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and second to him in the Jim Dandy, is a candidate for the Grade 2, $750,000 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 1.
“He’s a gorgeous horse and can run,” said Mott, who trained Baeza’s dam, Puca. “He’s got her head and neck. He’s a very well-balanced horse. Very athletic.”
Mott said the last time he spoke with Shirreffs was at the Breeders’ Cup last November following Sovereignty’s last workout at Del Mar.
“I took him in the stall and we looked at him together after he worked that day and it was that afternoon [assistant trainer Neil Pozanansky] called me and told me he had a fever,” Mott said. “I was proud to take him in there and show him the horse.”
Asked his emotions about taking over the training of Baeza, Mott said, “I’d rather John Shirreffs be alive and training Baeza rather than me. It’s nice to have him in the barn, but I didn’t really want him that way.”
