Art Collector is moved from Drury to Mott; Saratoga is next

Art Collector, the winner of last year’s Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes, has been moved to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott with the plan to race him next month at Saratoga, the colt’s breeder-owner confirmed Friday.

“The horse is with Bill,” Bruce Lunsford told Horse Racing Nation. “We all go back a long time. All the big races are on the East Coast in New York between now and the Breeders’ Cup, so New York was the next move.”

The Daily Racing Form, which first reported the transfer out of Tommy Drury’s barn, said Art Collector would be aimed for the Aug. 6 running of the 1 1/8-mile Alydar Stakes for older horses.

“I’m sure the Alydar is on the radar,” Lunsford said. “It’s a good possibility.”

A 4-year-old colt by Bernardini out of Lunsford’s Distorted Humor broodmare Distorted Legacy, Art Collector carried a four-race winning streak to Churchill Downs for last September’s Kentucky Derby. But after injuring himself when he grabbed a quarter during a race-week gallop, Art Collector did not get to the starting gate Sept. 5.

In three races since, Art Collector finished fourth in the Preakness, eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and, in his only start as a 4-year-old, sixth as the 6-5 favorite June 25 in the Kelly’s Landing Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs.

“I know he’s a better horse than that,” Lunsford said. “It was his first time back, a speed-biased track, he broke to the right. Everybody was taken aback by the race at Churchill Downs, and that will pass.”

In his first timed workout since, Art Collector breezed four furlongs Thursday morning in 49.66 seconds on the Oklahoma track at Saratoga.

Art Collector is on his third trainer. He began his racing career in 2019 with Joe Sharp, who guided him to two victories only to have one taken away because of a medication violation. As he often has with other horses, Lunsford sent the colt to Drury in what he figured would be a temporary move. That was before an impressive allowance victory May 17 at Churchill Downs convinced him to stick with Drury.

“Tommy has done a hell of a job with this horse,” Lunsford said. “I’m sure Bill will do a good job up (at Saratoga).”

Art Collector’s record is 12: 5-1-0 with earnings of $738,305.