Trainer Mott earns 5,000th career victory with Moon over Miami

On Jan. 15, 1976, the world was a different place. “I Write the Songs,” by Barry Manilow was the No. 1 song in America. Agatha Christie had just died and Pol Pot had just assumed power. And at a claiming race at Hialeah Park, a young trainer named Bill Mott earned his first recognized career victory, with a colt named Jim Reeves. Mott, who had been training horses since high school, had previous wins dating back to the late 1960s at unrecognized races in South Dakota.

The win was the first of a long career that has included wins at the Belmont Stakes and Kentucky Derby. Mott picked up his 5,000th career win on Saturday, when Moon over Miami crossed the line first in the third race at Churchill Downs, a 1 1/8-mile allowance race.

Mott, who has 25,544 career starts and career winnings of more than $286 million, is best known for his work in the 1990s with Cigar, a champion who won the 1995 Breeders' Cup classic. He won last year’s Kentucky Derby with Country House after Maximum Security was disqualified. It was his second victory in a Triple Crown race after winning the Belmont in 2010 with Drosselmeyer.

Mott was not in Louisville to see his 5000th win, instead opting to attend at Belmont Park, but assistant trainer Kenny McCarthy accepted the honor in his stead, along with exercise rider Penny Gardiner.

“We’re so thrilled to achieve this milestone,” McCarthy said in a release from Churchill Downs. “I know Bill is watching from New York but we are so happy, and a little relieved, to get this honor.”

Mott has now trained 121 Grade 1 winners. He ranks seventh in all-time wins.