Belmont Stakes watch: Chief Wallabee could give Mott 2 straight

This is the 25th installment of a weekly feature on Horse Racing Nation that tracks Triple Crown horses all the way through the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. 

There appears to be no slowing down Bill Mott. When he saddles Chief Wallabee in the 158th running of the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga, the veteran trainer will be in search of a second consecutive victory in the final leg of the Triple Crown. 

A 72-year-old native of South Dakota, Mott has been doing this a long time. The Hall of Fame trainer earned his first stakes victory nearly a half-century ago and has won the training title at Saratoga nine times. 

The incomparable Cigar will always be his greatest horse, and that star runner retired 30 years ago. Mott's son Riley looks well on his way to a successful training career and had two horses run in this year's Kentucky Derby. It has only been recently, however, that the elder Mott has become a force in the Triple Crown races. 

Success in the Kentucky Derby for Mott first came seven years ago, but he needed a disqualification to see Country House draped in roses at Churchill Downs. One year ago, Sovereignty became his second Derby winner and his first to cross the wire in front. 

Neither of his Kentucky Derby winners raced in the middle jewel in Maryland. Mott has never won the Preakness Stakes and does not seem all that interested in trying, after skipping the classic once again this year with Chief Wallabee. 

The Belmont Stakes is where he first tasted classic success when he saddled the long shot Drosselmeyer. That breakthrough victory for Mott came back in 2010. It was his fifth attempt in the final leg of the Triple Crown, with his best result before that having been a second by long shot Vision and Verse in the 1999 edition. 

Mott had zero starters in the Belmont Stakes for 10 straight years before entering Drosselmeyer. The long-winded son of Distorted Humor previously had not won a stakes race and did not run in the first two legs of the Triple Crown. 

Going 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park, however, Mott had him ready to shine and the 13-1 shot edged away late to score by three-quarters of a length under Mike Smith. Never a superstar, Drosselmeyer scored one more big victory for his trainer, winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2011. 

Drosselmeyer represented the fifth Belmont Stakes try for Mott, and Sovereignty was his 11th horse to run for the carnations. And he was no underdog. 

After a powerful run from behind to win the Kentucky Derby, the son of Into Mischief skipped a trip to Pimlico and came to Saratoga for a rematch with the Preakness winner Journalism, whom he had defeated at Churchill Downs. 

With the rebuild at Belmont Park, the Upstate New York oval is hosting the Belmont Stakes from 2024 through this year, running the race at the distance of 1 1/4 miles. The location and distance proved ideal for the Mott-trained Sovereignty, as he powered by his rival for an impressive win and two-thirds of the 2025 Triple Crown.

Journalism was a narrow favorite over Sovereignty in last year’s edition, and Mott once again might have the second choice in the Belmont this year. 

Grade 1 winner Renegade figures to be the favorite off his near miss at Churchill Downs. Chief Wallabee will likely vie for the second choice along with Golden Tempo, the upset winner of the Kentucky Derby. 

The Mott-trained son of Constitution comes into the Belmont still a lightly raced and somewhat unproven commodity. A homebred for Mike and Katherine Ball, he did not start at 2. When he finally made it to the races, he made a splash with an impressive debut victory over another talented colt, The Puma. Chief Wallabee has been fed a steady diet of tough races ever since. 

He looked a bit green when close in both the Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park. Mott made the move to add blinkers for his fourth lifetime start. That came in the Kentucky Derby, and his promising colt ran very well. 

Well backed at 7-1, Chief Wallabee was in with a chance at the head of the stretch but was banged around repeatedly as he looked to thread his way through traffic in the huge field. 

When rider Junior Alvarado, who also rode Sovereignty to all of his big wins, finally got him in the clear on the inside late, the Mott charge finished full of run to check in fourth, beaten just three lengths. Chief Wallabee soon after shipped to Saratoga, where he has looked very good working out for his next test.

The hope is that the still-developing colt will move forward in the Belmont and that with a smaller field and less traffic, he can finally break through and win a big race. With more early speed than both Renegade and Golden Tempo, Chief Wallabee should have a tactical advantage this time around. 

Bill Mott has been a successful fixture around Saratoga for decades. It came as no surprise when the legendary trainer scored his second victory in the Belmont Stakes at the oval last year with Sovereignty. 

Can the talented colt Chief Wallabee make it two in a row for Mott? We will have to wait 11 more days to find out, but I like his chances.