For as long as he can remember, it was all about the horses for Riley Mott. His play area was his father's stable, which became his workspace as soon as he was old enough to drag around a water pail.
“I gained a passion for just being around the animals,” he said. “I grew up in the barn. I started going there at an extremely early age. Pretty much my entire childhood, I knew what I wanted to do, which was to become a trainer one day. It's really only ever been horse racing.”
You could say his career path was destined by his DNA, because his origin story is similar to his dad's. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott grew up in Mobridge, South Dakota, where his father was a veterinarian.
“He worked with horses, and I used to follow him around on his calls,” Bill said. “After watching him, I knew that I wanted to spend my life working with horses.”
Like father, like son, unto the third generation.
After eight years as an assistant to his father, Riley made the leap of faith and bet on himself. At age 29, in November 2022, he opened his own stable and won with his third starter. Three and a half years later, he's preparing two colts, Virginia Derby hero Incredibolt and Wood Memorial (G2) winner Albus, for the 152nd Kentucky Derby (G1).
Among their opponents will be Chief Wallabee, trained by Riley's dad, who could become the first trainer to win the Derby in consecutive years since Bob Baffert did it in 1997 and 1998.
“I thought I could stay with my dad for another 10 years or so and do well in his operation,” he said. “Or else I could use what I had learned and see what I could do on my own. There's so much that I learned from him. It was like going to Harvard for horse training. My program is almost identical to his.
“We've slowly but surely been able to increase the quality of horses in the barn. I'm fulfilling my dream right now. It's been great. So hopefully we keep getting nice horses.”
Riley already has two Grade 1 wins, both on turf -- with World Beater (2025 Saratoga Derby) and Argos (2025 Summer Stakes). Coincidentally, Bill Mott's first champion was Theatrical, the 1987 Eclipse Award winner for older turf male. The Ireland-bred earned more than $2.2 million in 1987, when he won six Grade 1 races.
“My dad has always said Theatrical probably had the biggest impact on his life,” Riley said. “The horse paid for my parents' first house in New York, and they were able to start our family from there. Maybe if it weren't for Theatrical, I wouldn't exist.”
Circumstances put father and son on very different career paths. Bill was only 15 when he trained his first winner on a South Dakota bush track. After paying his dues as an exercise rider and an assistant trainer to Jack Van Berg, Bill was 25 in 1978 when he opened a public stable of mainly claimers. He was 30 when he made his Derby debut with Taylor's Special, who finished 13th in 1984.
Theatrical's emergence put Bill in the fast lane, and in 1998, at 45, he became the youngest trainer ever voted into the Hall of Fame. He's won five Eclipse Awards as leading trainer, two Kentucky Derbys, two Belmont Stakes (G1), and a Dubai World Cup (G1). Last year's Derby hero, Sovereignty, earned Mott's fourth Horse of the Year trophy, joining Cigar (1995, 1996) and Cody's Wish (2023).
Talk about having a tough act to follow.
“Incredibly big shoes to fill for anybody,” Riley said, “but I think that's just more motivation for me to try to reach the heights that he's reached. I'm always going to try to do as well as he did.”
On Derby Day, Riley's pair and Bill's Chief Wallabee will be long shots behind Renegade, Commandment, and Further Ado.
Unlike last year, when Sovereignty was battle-tested and won two stakes before the Derby, Chief Wallabee is talented but inexperienced. After winning his debut, he lost by a neck to Commandment in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and ran third, only half a length behind Commandment, in the Florida Derby (G1). Hoping to improve the colt's focus, Mott put blinkers on Chief Wallabee for an April 20 workout at Churchill Downs, and he responded, breezing 5 furlongs in 1:00 with a final furlong in a swift 11.80 seconds.
“I thought it was very good,” Mott said. “He finished really well and galloped out strong.”
The questions about Incredibolt and Albus center around the quality of their competition. Neither has faced a top colt. Incredibolt dominated the Virginia Derby by four lengths, and Albus rallied to take the Wood Memorial by two. Both races were visually impressive, although Albus' time and final furlong (13.2 seconds) were slow. Incredibolt went his final eighth in a quick :12, but the 1 1/8-mile race was around one turn, and will he handle 1 1/4 miles and two turns?
“We've always thought very highly of Incredibolt ever since he was being broken on the farm,” Riley Mott said. “Winning as impressively as he did in Virginia was highly gratifying, and he's bred to run all day.
“We always thought a lot of Albus, too. People are criticizing the time and the figure of the Wood, and I get that. He'll certainly need to get faster, without question.”
Riley said he and Bill have been discussing the Derby, and Bill is very proud that his son has gotten there so quickly.
“He's doing good,” he said. “He's doing a great job, and to have two horses in the Derby is quite an accomplishment, just to get them there. I hope that it all goes well, and that we'll have to face off on Derby Day.”
Ed McNamara is an award-winning racing writer who has covered the sport since 1981 for The Bergen (N.J.) Record, Newsday, ESPN, Thorocap, and USRacing. He is the author of Cajun Racing: From the Bush Tracks to the Triple Crown and Racing Around the World, and a contributor to The Most Glorious Crown and The Racetracks of America. He has also written for racing publications in France and Italy.
