In 1968, a 15-year-old Bill Mott entered his first winner's circle in Fort Pierre, S.D., when his mare My Assets won a $500 race. In that moment, he was not even sure if he would get to keep the blanket that acted as the race's trophy.
The mare had finished in a dead heat, and Mott and the other trainer flipped a coin to see who would take the blanket home. It landed in Mott's favor.
That was how an illustrious Hall of Fame career began, and that blanket is still in Mott's possession alongside countless trophies from the world's biggest races. That collection added a third Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) trophy Oct. 31 thanks to Sovereignty , but as Mott stood outside his Keeneland barn Nov. 1, he had time to reflect on how far he's come.
"The feeling, the gratification, of just getting a horse to the winner's circle is so great. It doesn't matter what level it is," Mott said. "At that time, that (first career win) was big for me, but that's just because I'm so passionate about it. You put in your time, and getting them to the winner's circle is the reward. That's what we work for."
Getting Sovereignty to the winner's circle in the Classic was a huge reward for Mott, displaying an exceptional training job bringing the Into Mischief colt back from an illness that prematurely ended his sensational 3-year-old campaign in 2025 and overcoming a foot abscess that threatened to knock him off the Breeders' Cup trail less than two months before.
"He gave us a big thrill and confirmed that he was as good as we always thought he was," Mott said. "He wasn't just a one-season sensation, he came back and won two of the most important races that they offer in this country."
That confirmation led to a permanent smile on the trainer's face as he grazed Sovereignty and paraded him in front of the mob of photographers gathered outside his barn.
It was a special moment, his final with his champion before the trainer got on a plane back home and Sovereignty got on a trailer departing for Jonabell Farm with stablemate and Classic third-place finisher Knightsbridge .
READ: BC Classic Winner Sovereignty Enters Stud at $150,000
Their departure to begin their stud careers in 2027 with Darley will leave a massive void in the Mott barn, at least for now. Mott has been lucky enough to train several horses that would be considered by most a horse of a lifetime, and he's been down this road before, needing to bounce back in their absence.
"It's like starting over," Mott said. "The two horses (Sovereignty and Knightsbridge) were on top for the stable; they carried the stable all year. We've got other nice horses, but none that can compare to that. I've been in that spot before, and somehow it seems to turn out well."
The trainer also reflected on his decision to move his stable from Kentucky to New York in 1987 after accepting a private training job for Bert and Diana Firestone. When he accepted, he had a handful of top horses all set to retire at the same time. It didn't take long for him to find more good ones, and less than a decade later, the legendary Cigar would arrive at Mott's barn.
"I found a few more good ones," Mott said. "It's been a good run for me and our stable. I can't say enough for the people who have helped us and carried us. You've got to have the good owners, and you've got to have the good horses. A trainer can't train a billy goat to win the Breeders' Cup Classic. Not many people get to be in that position, so I know how fortunate I am."
That fortune has brought Mott two horses who have separated themselves from the rest in their accomplishments: Cigar and Sovereignty. Citing that their peak came at different ages, Mott can't properly distinguish which holds the title of the greatest he's trained, and he is interested to see what history itself will decide.
"I think your name gets attached to great horses," Mott said. "When I think of Lucien Laurin, I think of Secretariat. I don't know if somebody mentions my name, if it will be Cigar or Sovereignty."
Sovereignty's record as a Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) winner at 3 and a Whitney Stakes (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic winner at 4 has already earned him many accolades, and likely would land the colt in racing's Hall of Fame alongside Mott and Cigar.
"I think it would be very important to (Godolphin) to have a horse that's in the Hall of Fame. That would be wonderful," Mott said. "That's a lot to ask, but he's a lot of horse."
What could seal the deal would be if Sovereignty repeated as Horse of the Year in 2026 following his title in 2025. He would become the ninth multi-time Horse of the Year since the Eclipse Awards began in 1971.
As far as Mott is concerned, that is a title Sovereignty has earned.
"I don't think there's any doubt," Mott said of winning Horse of the Year. "There are other years that maybe you'd have to quibble about it, but I don't know who would take that spot. I don't know what name you'd put in front of him. He showed it yesterday."
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Deterministic Makes Good on Clement Family Expectations
Of those who could compete with Sovereignty for Horse of the Year honors is St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker, and Vicarage Stable's Deterministic , who completed his 4-for-5 season with a third grade 1 victory in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) Saturday.
"I thought from the beginning of the year to the end, he was always the leader in his division," trainer Miguel Clement said as he gave Deterministic's Horse of the Year case. "It wasn't just one performance or two, but all year long he was the leader of his division. Maybe that means something, but I'll let the voters have that discussion and I'll just stick to training."
Like Mott with Sovereignty, Clement was found outside his barn Sunday morning grazing the son of Liam's Map , spending some final moments with the horse before he loaded a van to join his sire in Lane's End Farm's stallion ranks.
Those moments were extra sentimental as Deterministic began his career trained by Clement's father, Hall of Famer Christophe Clement, before his death in May 2025. Deterministic was one of Christophe's final graded winners, and he became Miguel's first grade 1 winner just two weeks after Christophe's death in the 2025 Manhattan Stakes (G1).
Miguel Clement's first Breeders' Cup victory came the day before what would have been Christophe's 61st birthday, which Clement said made it a touch bittersweet.
"That was awesome," Clement said of winning his first Breeders' Cup with a horse he trained with his father. "I'm sad for the day where I'll be running horses that no longer have my dad's name on the program for past entries. That day will unfortunately have to come one day."
Clement said his father would have been proud to see a horse he always loved have such a successful career and Breeders' Cup win.
"It would have meant a lot to him," Clement said. "It's exciting when you are able to map out a career like his where he's a top-class 2-year-old, top-class 3-year-old, spectacular 4-year-old season, and spectacular 5-year-old season. It's very rare when you have a horse that's able to have that much of a campaign at the highest level for so many years."
The rarity of Deterministic's amazing career, which concludes with a record of 11-4-1 from 18 starts for earnings of $4,231,439, was praised by Mott, who shares the same barn with Clement at Saratoga Race Course.
As Mott saw photographers and media gathered around Clement and Deterministic Sunday morning, he said, "This was a great training feat for this horse to win, a great training feat."
Nitrogen's Target at 5 is the Hall of Fame
Another great training feat has been that of Hall of Famer Mark Casse with Nitrogen, whom he saddled to win the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) Saturday and put her in the Horse of the Year conversation.
The Medaglia d'Oro filly's 4-year-old season concluded with a 4-2-1 record from seven starts, winning two grade 1s and running a strong second behind Sovereignty when facing males in the Whitney.
"I think any of those three are deserved, and I genuinely feel like any of them realistically could be Horse of the Year," owner and breeder Jon Green of D. J. Stable said Sunday morning. "I would like to think that Horse of the Year embodies their entire year, and she has certainly danced every dance. We have challenged her at every turn; we've run against the best of the best not only in her division, but also in the entire industry. I feel like that she has the credentials to be considered Horse of the Year."
Unlike her two male rivals for the Horse of the Year title, Nitrogen is expected to campaign again in 2027, with a title greater than Horse of the Year the main target: an induction into the Hall of Fame.
"I get choked up a little bit thinking about Nitrogen," Green said. "She's been in our program and our plans since the year before she was born, when you start doing the mating analysis.
READ: BC Distaff Winner Nitrogen has D. J. Stable Flying High
"You walk through the Hall of Fame, and you walk through the museum, and you look at all the other horses who have earned those plaques. You wonder are any of my horses ever going to be good enough to be here? She's really the first one that we think has the résumé to do it. If she continues to run to her abilities as a 5-year-old, it's just going to continue to enhance her credentials and her credibility to be there."
Nitrogen has faced challenge after challenge, and it is likely she will be tested again in 2027 as Green indicated they would be willing to take on males again.
"We're going to put her in a position where she can succeed, and if it means that running against the boys is the best path to get her ultimately to where we want to, then we'll do it," Green said.
Full interviews with Clement (with guest star Deterministic) and Green will debut on Episode 91 of BloodHorse Monday Nov. 2, and a full press conference with Mott is available on BloodHorse's YouTube page.
