But the racing pundits and handicappers didn't know what she knew: that the hard-knocking old man looked just as good, maybe even better, coming into the Bowling Green than he had three years ago, when a pair of Grade I victories earned him Eclipse Champion Turf Male honors.

If anyone could have predicted Channel Maker's front-running Bowling Green upset, it was Gilda Libero.

Libero has been Channel Maker's “person” for three years. Daily grooming sessions that bring his dapples to a sheen, regular massages and stretches that conclude with handfuls of carrots, and long hours of grazing are all part of the routine that Libero and Channel Maker share.

“To me, he's really special,” she explained. “I don't know whether the fact that I really treat him so special makes a difference. I'll tell Bill that sometimes I don't even know if he likes me and he'll say, 'He likes you. He's different around you.' So I'll take it.”

Libero first met the chestnut gelding affectionately known around the Bill Mott barn as “grumpy” three summers ago in Saratoga. A racetrack lifer, Libero worked for Mott over 20 years ago, but she had not had a position on the backside since 2001. In 2020, the Mott crew called her asking for an extra hand. The pandemic was causing a staffing shortage and they could use her help in the mornings before she needed to be on the frontside for her role in the racing office.

Like many racing fans, Libero had admired Channel Maker from afar and was looking forward to meeting the turf star.

“I remember when I first laid eyes on him,” she recalled. “I saw him standing in the stall and to me, he was magnificent. There was something about him that drew me to him. Then finally I got to walk him one day and that was it. He just embodied these other horses that I'd had in my life.”

One of those horses that Libero saw in Channel Maker was her beloved Clarinet King (His Majesty). Throughout most of his 165 starts over a career that spanned the 1980s, Libero was his greatest fan. She was a barn foreman for Bobby Ribaudo when they picked up the hard-knocking horse, but she took him on and became his groom. She cheered Clarinet King on from afar when he was later claimed and went to race for other stables, and then adopted him as her own when he retired at the age of 12.

It was his eventual passing that drove her away from working on the backside, but she found another heart horse upon her return to the Mott barn a few years ago.

“It took a long time to be ready, because when I go into something it's 100%,” she shared. “It's a tremendous commitment. You have to be ready for the pain because when you loose them, it's brutal. Doesn't matter what age. They're part of your life.”

After a week of heartbreak for the Mott barn following the sudden passing of their talented Art Collector (Bernardini), who lost his life to laminitis, Libero's heart goes out to her good friend Erma Scott, who shared a close bond with Art Collector just as Libero does with Channel Maker. Both women return to the barn every morning because of their passion for the horses they care for.

“There are times even this summer when I don't want to get up in the morning,” Libero admitted. “But as soon as I don't want to get up, I know he's waiting for me. I have to be there for him. That's life, you know? And there are a lot of us like that out there. I'm not special. There are more people on the track like that than people want to give credit for.”

Along with Libero, Channel Maker has a host of other admirers in the Mott barn and beyond. Libero pointed out how the gelding's former exercise rider Patrice, who recently  retired and now watches all his races from afar, used to bring Channel Maker hand-picked grass and would give his head a good long scratch after taking his bridle off every day.

Libero among the celebrators of Channel Maker's 2020 Sword Dancer victory | Sarah Andrew

“A lot of people have been with him for a long time,” she explained. “I don't think there is anybody in the barn that doesn't have a fond spot for him in their heart. Everyone takes care of him in their own little way. He doesn't owe anybody anything. We owe him.”

Libero is also quick to note that the horse, while loveable, does have his idiosyncrasies. Libero is not a full-time member of the Mott team this summer, but she is there every day to care for Channel Maker and believes the exclusive attention she can give the gelding in the morning allows him to perform at his best in the afternoon.

“I get to just pay attention to him and not have to worry about, 'Oh, I have to be here to walk this horse or I have to be there to put the blanket on this horse.' It's really nice and relaxed and I think he does better with relaxed. He doesn't like quick movement around him. He tells you what he wants. You just have to listen.”

Even though he didn't win, Libero's favorite race of Channel Maker's was the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Turf. She had only been working with the Ontario-bred for a few months, but was already his biggest fan and hoped more than anything that she would be able to make the trip to Keeneland with him.

She went to Mott and told him she would pay her own way if need be, knowing there were other members of the team who had been in the barn for longer than she had, but in the end she was able to make it to Lexington. She cheered Channel Maker on as, with his signature high-headed, front-running style, he was passed only in the final strides to claim third.

“I was so proud of him,” she said. “It was as good as winning. He ran better than I think anybody expected him to and I got to be there with him.”

Owned by Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R.A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, the earner of $3.8 million will be aiming to make his seventh Breeders' Cup appearance as he returns to the starting gate on Saturday for the 'Win and You're In' GI Sword Dancer S. It will be his sixth straight start in the mile-and-a-half contest, which he won in 2020, and his 29th career Grade I start.

“I think he's going to run a good race,” Libero predicted. “He always tries, never puts in a fluke. You have to love him for that. To me, a win is gravy. Seeing him out there and coming home safe, that's everything. But they're going to have to run to beat him because he's got a heck of a kick for an old boy.”

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Horse Racing Nation was first with the story.

“This was sudden and a tough experience for me and my wife,” said owner-breeder Bruce Lunsford. “I can summarize this pretty easily. He gave me my highest highs in this business and now my lowest low. That's as simple as I can put it. He will be in my brain and my thoughts for the rest of my life. He was very special. The biggest win of my life was in the Pegasus down in Miami, so this was a really big loss. And he was going to be a great sire.”

Trainer Bill Mott said the problems started only a few days ago but became more serious by the day.

“He started to develop laminitis a couple of days ago and he went in a hurry,” Mott said. “He had a very good work on the fifth of August and was fine the next day. Then he developed what appeared to be a small foot abscess two days later. We were soaking it and treating it. We didn't think it was going to be anything serious, but it developed into laminitis in all four feet. He was with us in Saratoga and was in his stall. He started to get real uncomfortable on Tuesday. Yesterday was a bad day and it was getting worse and we had to make the decision to put him asleep.”

Art Collector was originally trained by Joe Sharp. He was transferred to trainer Tom Drury for his 3-year-old campaign. His first graded stakes win came for Drury in the 2020 GII Blue Grass S., which, because of the pandemic, was run on July 11. He returned with a win in the Ellis Park Derby before finishing fourth in the GI Preakness S., which began a three-race losing streak.

In July of 2021, Lunsford made the decision to turn the horse over to Mott, who helped turn around the horse's career. He won his first three starts for Mott in a streak that included the Alydar S., the GII Charles Town Classic and the Woodward. He scored another win in the Charles Town Classic in 2022. After winning this year's Pegasus, he finished his career with second-place finishes in the GII New Orleans Classic and the GII Alysheba.

He was being pointed for a return visit to this year's Charles Town Classic. Lunsford said the plan was to retire Art Collector after the Charles Town race and then to send him to Claiborne Farm, where he was to stand at stud.

Art Collector won 11 of 21 starts and earned $4,231,290.

“To win the Pegasus, what a brilliant race that was for him,” Mott said. “It may be the biggest race of the year so far in North America. We all have great memories of that. He won 50% of his races. He wasn't just an average race horse. He was pretty special.”

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The Paulick Report was first with the story.

Under new rules put in place by HISA that went into effect in May, horses who have had an intra-articular injection are prohibited from running within 14 days of the injection and cannot have a published workout within seven days of the injection. Art Collector, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, was injected on June 21. According to Equibase, he had a five-furlong workout at Saratoga on June 26. With the violation, Art Collector was placed on the provisionally suspended list, which requires that he not race or work out for 30 days.

He will come off the provisionally suspended list on July 21.

The HISA rules covering inter-articular injections have gone through several revisions. Originally, any trainer found to violate the rule was subject to a 60-day suspension but that was dropped when HISA determined many of the offenses were caused by confusion and that many trainers did not understand the new rules. Those rules were tweaked during the time that Art Collector had the injection and the workout. In addition to the horse being put on a suspended list, Mott has received a warning letter. Still new rules went into place on July 16. Under this set of guidelines, any trainer who violates the rules will receive a $3,000 fine for the first offense. However, the horse in question is not provisionally suspended.

After declining to publish the list of the first batch of horses that had violated the rule, HISA reversed course and published a list the next day of 19 horses who were in violation of the rule. Those horses should not have been allowed to race while on the suspension list but nine of them did and three won their next start.

The new list contains 15 names. As was the case with the first list of names that was revealed, HISA did not enforce its own rules. None of the horses on the list should have been allowed to race while suspended, but six made it into the starting gate. In the case of Celtic Treasure (Treasure Beach {GB}), he was injected on June 12 and raced twice before his suspension ended on July 12. In another case, To Kalon (Ghostzapper) ran in a race just three days after having the injection.

With Art Collector coming off the list on Friday, he should be ready to return to the races at Saratoga quickly and could point for races like the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. Another option might be the GII Charles Town Classic, a race he won in 2022 and 2021. He last ran on May 5 at Churchill Downs, where he finished second in the GII Alysheba S. The biggest win of his career came in January when he won the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream.

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For several seconds, the interviewee was the light-hearted interviewer.

Mott knows the drill. He has been training horses since he was a teenager in Mobridge, South Dakota, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame at the age of 45–the youngest flat trainer in history–in 1998 and in the 25 years since has further burnished his reputation as one of the Thoroughbred racing's all-time greats. Equibase stats show him ranked fourth in career purse earnings with $330,933,373 and eighth in victories with 5,323. The great Cigar delivered 19 of those wins–16 in a row–and $9,999,815 in earnings to those totals in the mid-1990s.

With a crew of accomplished stakes runners, Mott will once again be a major player during the 155th summer of racing in Saratoga that starts Thursday. While Cody's Wish (Curlin), who is being considered for the GI Whitney S. on Aug. 5, may have the highest profile at the moment, he is not the only star in Mott's barn located next to the Oklahoma training track. Also in residence along the shedrow are champion sprinter Elite Power (Curlin) and multiple graded stakes winners Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed), Frank's Rockette (Into Mischief), War Like Goddess (English Channel), Art Collector (Bernardini), and Caramel Swirl (Union Rags). Graded stakes winners Poppy Flower (Lea) and Wakanaka (Ire) (Power {GB}) are still at Belmont Park. Art Collector is the only one not being pointed to a Saratoga start.

After stepping back into his familiar role of talking about his horses and upcoming races, Mott acknowledged that he was upbeat and ready for the upcoming season.

“I am, all the time. I don't panic as much as I used to. I don't get the anxiety that I used to have,” he said. “I'm excited and I'm looking forward to it. There was a point when I thought I had to be leading trainer here. It's like, 'Oh, I was leading trainer last year. I've got to do it again.' I don't feel that. I just hope each individual horse does well.”

Mott saddled his first horse at Saratoga in 1984, has been at the meet every year since 1987 and won or shared the training title nine times between 1992 and 2007. These days he often finishes third behind the dominant duo of Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown.

“Naturally, I don't have quite as many as some of them,” Mott said. “I have a large stable. I have the same large stable, like I used to have, but some of these guys have got huge stables.”

Last year, he was fifth in wins with 16 from 114 starters. Brown snagged the title with 42 wins from 197 starts and Pletcher was next with 38 wins from 159 starters. With Olympiad (Speightstown)'s victory in the $1-million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, Mott finished third in purse earnings with his personal best of $3,262,117.

With Eddie Davis up, Cody's Wish gallops Wednesday morning | Sarah Andrew

Godolphin homebred Cody's Wish could give Mott his first victory in the $1-million Whitney. The 4-year-old colt has won six in a row and nine of 10 starts since breaking his maiden in October 2021. In his most recent start, Cody's Wish won the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Mile H. at Belmont Park. He has proved effective at two turns, winning the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November. Mott said the challenge will be the distance, to see if he can stretch out a bit more and continue his dominant run at 1 1/8 miles.

“He has not won at nine furlongs,” Mott said. “We know what he can do at a mile. Now older and more experienced, seasoned, maybe the mile and an eighth is more within his reach.”

Mott is leaning toward the Whitney because he doesn't have any other options on the Saratoga schedule. He is not interested in running Cody's Wish in the six-furlong GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 29–his 70th birthday–as it is Elite Power's preferred distance. The more suitable seven-furlong GI Forego S., which Cody's Wish won last year, is on Aug. 26

“That's a long way, a long time to wait,” Mott said. “You kind of get forced into thinking about other things. If they had a flat mile race here that was a million dollars, we'd be looking at that but they don't have it. The Whitney is one of the two more prestigious races they run up here and he is a possible to run in it.”

Mott has won 464 races in 2,646 starts and earned $41,065,994 in purses at Saratoga. According to Equibase, he has 91 stakes victories at the Spa. Since he notched his first graded stakes win at Saratoga in 1990 with Chief Honcho in the GII Jim Dandy, his horses have prevailed in 29 different graded stakes with a total of 65 winners. Twenty-five have been in GI races.

Despite all that success in Saratoga, Mott has yet to win either the Whitney or the GI Travers S. He is 0-for-11 in the Whitney with three seconds. In the Travers, he has two seconds in 10 starts.

War Like Goddess trains Wednesday at the Spa | Sarah Andrew

Through the years he has won the GII National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame S. and the GII Glens Falls S. seven times each, the GI Fourstardave H. and the GII Bernard Baruch H. five times each and the GI Diana S. and the Jim Dandy four times. Since being hired as Bert and Diana Firestone's trainer in 1987, he has had at least one graded stakes win in 34 of 36 seasons at Saratoga.

Casa Creed will be Mott's first stakes runner of the meet in Saturday's GIII Kelso S., formerly run as the Forbidden Apple. He picked up his third Saratoga win last year in the Fourstardave. Mott said that Poppy Flower and Wakanaka could run in the GIII Caress S. on July 22. Frank's Rockette is preparing for the GII Honorable Miss H. on July 26. War Like Goddess is headed to the Glens Falls on Aug. 3, a race she has won the last two summers. Caramel Swirl may make her next start in the GI Ballerina on Aug. 26.

In the early 1980s, Mott was based at Churchill Downs and had emerged as a top, young trainer. He recalls that it took some courage to make his first venture to Saratoga in 1984.

“Absolutely,” he said. “It was to see the people that were here and who you're running against and everything. Yeah, it was a big deal to me. It was a big deal.”

That summer he picked up three seconds in seven starts. The next year, he brought four horses and each of them ended up second. He skipped 1986 and in 1987 made his first trip to the winner's circle.

For many years, Mott has been based in Saratoga from April to November when the training track is open. His main barn was once used by Hall of Famer MacKenzie Miller.

“This is actually home, and I wouldn't want to do it any other way,” he said. “At this moment. I think I've got the best of both worlds right now. I have no complaints.”

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Smile Happy shadowed heavily favored last-out GII New Orleans Classic S. winner West Will Power (Bernardini) from an outside second through early fractions of :24.30 and :47.80. The Lucky Seven Stable colorbearer struck the front beneath Brian Hernandez, Jr. off the turn for home and kept on finding down the stretch to keep GI Pegasus World Cup winner Art Collector (Bernardini) safe by two lengths. West Will Power stayed on for third.

Winner of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. beneath the Twin Spires as a 2-year-old, last term's GII Risen Star S. and GI Toyota Blue Grass S. runner-up made two previous starts this season at Oaklawn Park. Smile Happy kicked off his 4-year-old campaign with a smart victory in an optional claimer in the slop Mar. 16, and was most recently third as the favorite in the GIII Oaklawn Mile Apr. 1.

“I'm really not surprised,” winning trainer Kenny McPeek said. “He's tricky to deal with sometimes and the last couple of races, we've finally figured his number. We ran him back quickly at Oaklawn because he was difficult to train at Oaklawn. We got him back here and he's done everything right. But, we learned a value lesson in his last race at Oaklawn. He's a true alpha. He wants everything his own way. But, he can run like the wind. I'm really proud of him.”

It was another disappointing run from last year's monumental Derby upsetter Rich Strike, who was making his first start of the season in the Alysheba. He passed one rival home to finish fifth after trailing for most of the way.

“I'm unusually disappointed in the effort,” trainer Eric Reed said. “I'm not sure what's going on. I expected him to finish better. He was where he was supposed to be but he didn't fire at all.”

Pedigree Notes:

Smile Happy, a $175,000 KEENOV weanling and a $185,000 FTKSEL sale graduate, is one of three graded winners for Runhappy and one of 24 graded winners for broodmare sire Pleasant Tap. Smile Happy is the most recent produce from three-time winner Pleasant Smile, who brought $57,000 from Black Type Bloodstock at the 2014 KEENOV sale.

Friday, Churchill Downs
ALYSHEBA S. PRESENTED BY SENTIENT JET-GII, $600,000, Churchill Downs, 5-5, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:41.29, ft.
1–SMILE HAPPY, 118, c, 4, by Runhappy
   1st Dam: Pleasant Smile, by Pleasant Tap
   2nd Dam: Relax and Smile, by Relaunch
   3rd Dam: Bunch of Smiles, by Graustark
($175,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $185,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Lucky Seven Stable (Mackin); B-Moreau Bloodstock Int'l Inc. & White Bloodstock LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.. $368,280. Lifetime Record: GISP, 8-4-2-1, $1,019,890. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Art Collector, 123, h, 6, Bernardini–Distorted Legacy, by Distorted Humor. O/B-W. Bruce Lunsford (KY); T-William I. Mott. $118,800.
3–West Will Power, 120, h, 6, Bernardini–Wild Promises, by Wild Event. O-Gary and Mary West; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $59,400.
Margins: 2, 3/4, 8 1/4. Odds: 7.74, 3.84, 0.70.
Also Ran: Last Samurai, Rich Strike, Milliken. Scratched: Giant Game.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Currently 10th on the leaderboard–the highest of the runners in the field–Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro) took the win in the second local prep race of the season–the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 21–after ending his juvenile campaign with a victory under the Twinspires in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. for trainer Brad Cox.

Cox has swept the Fair Grounds prep races thus far with Jace's Road (Quality Road), winner of the Gun Runner S. Dec. 26. The Louisiana Derby will the his first start since a fifth in the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn Jan. 28.

Making just his second start since being named a 'TDN Rising Star' at Saratoga last fall, Disarm (Gun Runner) makes his stakes debut Saturday off a second against allowance/optional claiming company at Oaklawn Feb. 19.

“He needed that race and he needs this,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “He's a talented horse playing catch up. From where we were at, I only felt we could get two runs in him (before a possible start in the Kentucky Derby), and the mile-and-three-sixteenths distance will move him forward. He's a horse who will stay on nicely but he needs some racing. He has a high talent level and deserves this chance.”

Undefeated in a pair of starts, Spendthrift Farm color-bearer Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) also makes his stakes debut for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Turfway Serves Up 'Well Done' Derby Prep

Bolt d'Oro has another potential leading contender on the trail in Turfway's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S. with GIII Kitten's Joy S. heroine Major Dude also flying the Spendthrift Farm colors. Having contested his last four races on the turf, including another graded-stakes win last fall in Belmont's GII Pilgrim S., the colt tries the tapeta for the first time for a chance at the 100-40-30-20-10 points on offer.

An experienced dirt horse, Two Phils (Hard Spun) leaves Fair Grounds for Turfway after contesting the last two preps in New Orleans-coming in second to Instant Coffee in the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 21 and third when last spotted behind Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) in the GII Risen S. Feb. 18.

“At one point the horse did a two-minute lick for me one time over a synthetic surface and it was almost an eye-opening move,” said trainer Larry Rivelli of Two Phil's. “I've been trying to think of the easiest spot for the money and I think this will be the spot. If he absolutely hates the surface, that's on me. I'm sort of putting myself out there saying that I think he will run well over it. Working a half-mile or five-eighths is a lot different than running a race. That's when you find out if a horse doesn't like a surface. I'm pretty confident he will like it but like anything else in racing there could be a chance he doesn't like it. I didn't think he'd like the mud at Churchill (in the Street Sense) until he did.”

One contender who has experience over the surface is Congruent (Tapit), who faded to sixth behind Major Dude in the Kitten's Joy but rebounded with a win over the tapeta in the local prep, the John Battaglia Memorial S.

Art Collector Looks To Stay On Top

The newly-crowned GI Pegasus World Cup winner, Art Collector (Bernardini) looks to keep rolling into New Orleans in the GII New Orleans Classic S.

He'll face another son of the late Darley great in Gary and Mary West's West Will Power, entered off a pair of runner-up efforts in the GI Clark S. and the GII Razorback H.

The field also includes GSW Pioneer of Medina (Pioneerof the Nile) and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner Rattle N Roll (Connect).

Hoosier Philly Right Back At It

Already sitting in eighth place on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, Tom Amoss's Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) cares more about redemption than points in Saturday's GII Fair Grounds Oaks.

“I still think she's the best horse I have ever had in my barn,” Amoss said after his filly was a well-beaten third last time out in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 18.

She'll be challenged by a formidable pair in the Rachel Alexandra winner, 'TDN Rising Star'  Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), and Silverbulletday S. victor The Alys Look (Connect), who defeated GISP Chop Chop (City of Light).

While all three fillies are in the top 10 in points standings, the Fair Grounds Oaks does award a further 100-40-30-20-10 points towards the GI Kentucky Oaks.

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The gelding ran out a one-length winner of the G1 Stewards' Cup, defeating Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) (123), with California Spangle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) (122) in third. Golden Sixty then padded his record with a head tally over Romantic Warrior in the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup.

GI Pegasus World Cup hero Art Collector (Bernardini) has been ranked at 121, equal to G3 Neom Turf Cup hero Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). Four horses share a mark of 120 including Elite Power (Curlin), who won the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint; Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), successful in the G1 Saudi Cup defeating Country Grammer (Tonalist) (119), Café Pharoah (American Pharoah) (118) and Geoglyph (Jpn) (Drefong) (118); crack Australian sprinter Anamoe (Aus) (Street Boss) (120), and Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) (120).

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“Bill (Mott) has been told by me that if he continues do well we will continue,” Lunsford said. “That was a pretty good race the other day in the Pegasus and it gives us a chance to take more shots.”

While Lunsford understands the economics of the sport, where, oftentimes a horse can make considerably more money breeding than racing, the owner wants to enjoy watching Art Collector run for at least one more year.

“It used to be that horse racing was never meant to be your main source of living,” Lunsford said. “It was more like owning a baseball team or a football team. You have the guy who owns Rich Strike, is having the experience of his life and is going to keep running him. We need more of that in the game. I love the excitement. Winning the Pegasus made my blood pump.”

The owner said that the next race for Art Collector has yet to be decided upon, while adding that “there's a list of 10 races that would fit him this year.”

Lunsford also addressed his decision in 2021 to turn the horse over to Mott after he had been trained by Tom Drury. For Drury, Art Collector win the GII Blue Grass S., but finished off the board in his final three races for that trainer.

“Tommy and I have an incredibly close relationship,” Lunsford said. “But after that last race at Churchill (a sixth-place finish in the Kelly's Landing S.), I went in and talked to Tommy. I knew it was a punch to the gut for him. I told him that I wanted to go to New York because there were a lot of big races there for him to run in. Tommy and I, we're probably closer now than we've ever been. We've kept a great relationship. I think I made the decision on the right terms and I took a little heat for it. But I just kept my mouth shut and let things happen. Sometimes you have to do things likes this.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ Lane's End, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV https://www.kentuckybred.org/and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed the latest decision handed down by the courts to the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) and speculated on whether or not HISA could survive the setback. This week's 3-year-old watch included a review of the GIII Southwest S., won impressively by Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), and a discussion of Bob Baffert's domination of the 3-year-old ranks in California. In Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S., Baffert trains all four horses in the field and trains 14 of the 16 horses nominated.

Click for the video version of the podcast or the audio-only version.

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“He's happy. He was bright and alert and seemed to be feeling pretty good about himself,” Mott reported from Payson Park Sunday morning.

Art Collector, winner of the 2021 GI Woodward S., had been a solid stakes performer before his emphatic 4 1/2-length victory in the Pegasus Saturday.

“It's strange. I knew he was doing well going into the race. I felt like he was training well, but you can't really predict the outcome in a race like that,” Mott said. “There's some nice horses in there and you don't know much about the rest of them. I knew our horse was doing well. Did he exceed expectations? I wouldn't say that because I didn't know what to expect.”

Plans for the 6-year-old remain up in the air.

“Anytime you've got a well-bred horse that's a Grade I-stakes winner, I think going to stud is always an option, and it's just a matter of timing when you do it. I can't say what was going on in [Lunsford's] head. I don't think that was the first thing that was on his mind though,” Mott said. “I think Bruce kind of entered the new year thinking he enjoys seeing him on the racetrack and I think he was prepared to continue on that route for the rest of the year if things got going well.”

Trainer Mike Maker reported Sunday that Three Diamonds Farm's Atone (Into Mischief) was also doing well following his breakthrough victory in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational.

“He came out of it in good order,” Maker said. “It's impossible not to be impressed by the way he ran.”

Maker mentioned the Mar. 25 GII Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds and May 6 GI Turf Classic at Churchill Downs as possible upcoming targets for Atone.

Atone capped a huge day at Gulfstream for Maker, who also ran sixth in the Pegasus Turf with 74-1 long shot King Cause (Creative Cause). Earlier in the day, Maker won the GIII Fred W. Hooper with Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) and finished first, second, third and fifth in the GIII William L. McKnight led by winner Red Knight (Pure Prize).

On the day, Maker had three wins, one second and two thirds and earned $846,300 in purses. Prior to that he had a record of 29-4-3-4 with $154,615 in purses earned at the Championship Meet, which opened Dec. 26.

“It was a great day,” Maker said. “We were kind of in a slump there and to break out of it in that fashion felt great.”

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California invader Defunded (Dialed In), winner of last fall's GI Awesome Again S. and off as the 5-2 second choice, was 4 1/2 lengths back in second. Pacesetter Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) stayed on for third, the same position he filled in last year's renewal.

Alvarado, who rode the Bill Mott-trained Olympiad (Speightstown) to four graded-stakes victories and a runner-up finish behind Flightline (Tapit) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic last year, was riding Art Collector for the first time in the Pegasus.

“We scripted it that way and it turned out that way,” Mott said. “That doesn't happen very often, but [jockey] Junior [Alvarado] rode him and did a great job. I told him just ride him like you ride Olympiad, and he rode him the same way.”

Mott continued, “He's done that before. These kinds of races, you just have to wait and see. These are competitive races. You get the horse as good as you can and hope the horse shows up.”

Art Collector raced in fourth around the clubhouse turn as Stilleto Boy narrowly led Defunded through an opening quarter in :23.61. Cruising along nicely in an outside third, Art Collector set his sights on the top two while three wide on the far turn, struck the front less than a quarter of a mile from home and put the race to bed from there to win going away.

Art Collector, winner of the 2021 GI Woodward S. at Belmont, followed a sixth-place finish in that term's GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a 12th-place finish in the G1 Saudi Cup. He got back on track with a wire-to-wire win in Saratoga's Alydar S. Aug. 4 and successfully defended his title in the GII Charles Town Classic S. Aug. 26. The bay concluded his 5-year-old campaign with a fifth-place finish in the GII Lukas Classic Oct. 1.

“Originally, we were thinking of going to the Cigar Mile with him, and October, end of October, he had a foot abscess,” Mott said. “So we had to scrap all our plans. I told Bruce, I said, well, we're going to miss that. Let's go to Florida.”

“[Trainer] Bill [Mott] and I have had a long-term relationship, back with Vision and Verse,” Lunsford said. “We talked about it, and I give Bill credit for this, he said we're going to try something different. Let's lay him off. And he just kept getting better and better.”

Favored MGISW Cyberknife (Gun Runner), a painful second in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland in November, failed to duplicate his sire's heroics from the same wide draw in post 10 and was a disappointing sixth. Cyberknife is scheduled to begin his career at stud for a fee of $30,000 this upcoming breeding season at Spendthrift Farm.

“He didn't look like he fired to me,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He had a little bit of a wide trip and at the three-eighths pole I could kind of tell he wasn't traveling. He broke well but they got away from him. It reminded me a little bit of the race at Parx when he ran third there. It wasn't to be. It didn't work out.”

Pedigree Notes:

Art Collector's second dam Bunting was bred by and began her career racing for Mrs. John Hay Whitney's Greentree Stables, finishing runner-up to Inside Information (Private Account) in the 1994 GI Ashland S. and the GI Black-Eyed Susan S. before she was purchased by Seth Hancock, on behalf of Bruce Lunsford and Lanny Holbrook, for $500,000 at that year's Keeneland November Sale. She was victorious in one of three subsequent appearances for Bill Mott before being retired and covered by Storm Cat.

Bunting was an immediate hit at stud, as her first foal became Vision and Verse, winner of the 1999 GII Illinois Derby and second to Lemon Drop Kid (Kingmambo) in the GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. Bunting's next foal of import was her filly of 2003, Performing Diva (Storm Cat), second in the 2005 GII Darley Alcibiades S., and four years later, Bunting produced a filly by Distorted Humor. The versatile Distorted Legacy won the Sky Beauty S. on the dirt and was second in the GI Flower Bowl Invitational S. on the grass ahead of a close fourth in that year's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

Distorted Legacy is the dam of three winners from four to race, including the Bill Mott-trained Classic Legacy (Into Mischief), a juvenile maiden winner at Aqueduct Dec. 3 with Junior Alvarado at the controls. She is also responsible for the 2-year-old filly Kingdom Come (Justify), a yearling filly by Medaglia d'Oro and was most recently covered by Gun Runner.

Art Collector, one of 16 worldwide Grade I/Group 1 winners for his late sire, is set to enter stud at Claiborne Farm upon the conclusion of his racing career.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
PEGASUS WORLD CUP INVITATIONAL S. PRESENTED BY
BACCARAT-GI, $2,944,000, Gulfstream, 1-28, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m,
1:49.44, ft.
1–ART COLLECTOR, 123, h, 6, by Bernardini
                1st Dam: Distorted Legacy (SW & GISP, $421,466), by
                                Distorted Humor
                2nd Dam: Bunting, by Private Account
                3rd Dam: Flag Waver, by Hoist the Flag
O/B-Bruce Lunsford (KY); T-William I. Mott;
J-Junior Alvarado. $1,680,000. Lifetime Record: 21-11-1-0,
$4,012,490. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ ***Triple Plus***
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free
   Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Defunded, 123, g, 5, Dialed In–Wind Caper, by Touch Gold.
($210,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson
& Paul Weitman; B-Athens Woods LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert.
$560,000.
3–Stilleto Boy, 123, g, 5, Shackleford–Rosie's Ransom, by
Marquetry. ($420,000 3yo '21 FTKHRA). O-Steve Moger;
B-John & Iveta Kerber (KY); T-Ed Moger, Jr. $280,000.
Margins: 4HF, 1 1/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 15.50, 2.90, 45.50.
Also Ran: Last Samurai, Proxy, Cyberknife, Skippylongstocking,
White Abarrio, Get Her Number, Simplification, O'Connor (Chi),
Ridin With Biden. Scratched: Endorsed, Hoist the Gold.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO,
sponsored by TVG.

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