LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Gustavo Delgado Sr. and his son work so well together as a training duo that Gustavo Jr. does not see himself taking over the business once his dad is done. Riley Mott felt the opposite while assisting his Hall of Fame father, Bill, for nearly a decade before starting his own stable.
Traveling different paths, they all got to the Kentucky Derby this year, where Father's Day is coming early at Churchill Downs. The Delgados have
The Puma, the elder Mott is looking to go back to back with Chief Wallabee, and his 34-year-old son has his first two Derby horses in Albus and Incredibolt.
“You always want your children — you hope they’re better than you,” Bill Mott told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “And I think that’s probably the case. We’re very proud of him.”
Bill Mott has two Kentucky Derby titles already, though Country House getting elevated to first in 2019 when Maximum Security was disqualified made Sovereignty's triumph feel more like his first. A competitor in his own right, he acknowledges it would be quite special to see Riley do it.
That's the goal, now.
“It was extremely special for Sovereignty because I’m still part of the family, part of the team,” Riley said. “But to do it on my own, this is my baby — our stable, our business. It’s my brainchild, my baby. It’s like my life’s work, so naturally to do it on your own would be tenfold special.”
The Puma is set to be the Delgados' fourth horse in the Kentucky Derby and their first since winning it with Mage in 2023. The horse, named for Gustavo Sr.'s nickname for his resemblance to popular Venezuelan artist José Luis Rodríguez, occupies the same stall as Mage did, and the occasion has the father-son training duo reliving all the delightful memories from three years ago.
“It feels great just to be back to Churchill at this time of the year with a horse going to the Derby,” Gustavo Jr. said. “I'm happy to be back here.”
They own part of The Puma, along with Ramiro Restrepo and others, and jockey Javier Castellano is riding again after Mage was his first Derby win on his 16th try. The Deglados' partnership has reached a stage where they don't even argue with one another and see things the same way.
“My dad and I, we work so (well) together and we share the same passion,” Gustavo Jr. said. “We are also best friends. When you have that kind of chemistry, everything works so well, especially when a good horse comes around.”
A lot of good horses came around for Bill Mott since Riley began working for him full time out of college in 2014, so much so that it looked like he'd train for the rest of his life.
“He’s never going to retire: He’s going to die in his boots, so to speak,” Riley said of his dad, who's 72. “I knew it was never going to be a situation where he’d retire and I’d take over. He loves the game, he’s passionate about the horses and he’d probably get very bored if he retired.”
Through Country House, Tacitus and Sovereignty, it has not been boring for Bill, who doesn't believe he specifically taught his son particular lessons along the way.
“There would be things I needed him to do, and he would carry out the whatever it was that we needed to have done, but I never drilled anything into him,” Mott said. “He just picked it up. Like a sponge, he just absorbed everything on his own. He’s a good horseman who knows what’s going on.”
Naturally, the credit goes to pops, who's most proud of how Riley treats everyone from grooms to executives with respect and maintains the same even-keeled demeanor.
“I’ve learned almost everything that I know about horses, about life,” Riley said. “My lifetime’s worth of knowledge comes from him.”
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
