trainer

Riley Mott, a longtime assistant to his Hall of Fame father, Bill Mott, recently announced he was going out on his own. The 30-year-old will hang his own shingle after taking out his training license. Jen Roytz sat down with the younger Mott for this Q&A. JR: What has it been like coming up under your father? RM: To be honest, it's been like going to Harvard for horse training. Not only learning from him but from everyone involved in our operation, all the way up and down the ladder....

Hall of Famer Bill Mott's son, Riley Mott, will go out on his own as a trainer later this year after serving as his father's assistant for the past eight years. The younger Mott has been a familiar face of his father's stable, often traveling with the barn's stars to major races around the world. The 30-year-old took out his own training license in Florida this winter. "I learned from an early age that training horses wasn't just a business, but a lifestyle," said Mott. "I walked my first horse...

The New York Racing Association and trainer Marcus Vitali have reached a settlement regarding NYRA's effort to exclude the trainer from participating at its three tracks. According to NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna, the agreement requires that the terms of the settlement remain confidential. The TDN reached out to both Vitali's attorney Brad Bielly Friday in an attempt to gather more information. By mid-afternoon, he had not responded. Vitali told the TDN that he was not aware of the terms of the deal. In September, NYRA announced that it would begin...

Jack Sisterson, who has trained privately for Calumet Farm since 2018, is going public. Calumet will remain as a client and will keep a number of horses with Sisterson, but significantly fewer than he has typically had. Sisterson said he is making the move in the hopes that expanding and taking on other owners will lead to more opportunities. "This is something we have been discussing for a few months," he said. "I give all the credit to Calumet. If it weren't for them I wouldn't be where I am...

Peter Miller, who has not started a horse since Nov. 28, will make his return Sunday at Churchill Downs when he sends out Respect the Code (Honor Code) in the eighth race. Miller announced last fall that he was taking a break from training, explaining in a press release that he wanted to "spend more time with his family, focus on overall health and wellness, and pursue other interests." At the time, the bulk of his stable was moved over to his former assistant Ruben Alvarado. In a text message,...

Trainer Chad Brown joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss his trio of promising 3-year-old dirt colt, including this weekend's GI Preakness S. winner Early Voting.

Legendary Australian trainer Gai Waterhouse recently spent five days touring Kentucky's horse country. Upon returning to her headquarters at Tulloch Lodge in Sydney this week, the Hall of Fame trainer of 149 Group 1 wins, including a record seven G1 Golden Slippers, is looking forward to taking her findings and putting them to use at her own exceedingly-successful stable. "You know the old expression--you can't see the forest for the trees if you're there all day," Waterhouse explained. "You have to go away to freshen up. I felt like I...

Trainer Graham Motion joined this week's TDN Writers' Room after his trainee Highland Chief (Ire) had a breakthrough performance in the GI Man o' War S.

   The latest edition features longtime trainer-turned-jockey agent Kiaran McLaughlin, who represents one of the nation's top riders, Luis Saez, winner of Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks aboard Secret Oath, trained by McLaughlin's former mentor D. Wayne Lukas. Kiaran McLaughlin has pretty much seen and done it all in the sport of horse racing. From his earliest days as a hot walker and later as an assistant to a host of successful trainers, including Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, McLaughlin rounded out a 30-year career as a trainer--featuring a sparkling...

Trainer Mike Miceli has been suspended 30 days and fined $2,500 by the New York Gaming Commission for failing to follow Commission rules pertaining to the horse Cover Photo after a win in a $10,000 claiming race Mar. 13 at Aqueduct. The horse raced within 14 days of receiving a joint injection, which violates Commission rules. Cover Photo was not disqualified from her victory. Miceli will begin his suspension May 8 and, according to the DRF, bloodstock agent Joe Brocklebank will take over in his absence, granted he passes his trainer's...

Sir Mark Todd, who had been placed in an interim suspension by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) on Feb. 16, received a four-month suspension, with two months deferred, following a BHA independent disciplinary panel hearing on Thursday. Todd had been charged with conduct prejudicial to the reputation of racing in February, after a video emerged on social media of him striking a horse with a branch in August of 2020. The 65-year-old had been knighted in 2013 for his services to equestrian sport. Although Todd issued an apology, his licence...

It wasn't that long ago that Will Walden, recovering from substance addiction, was working the morning shift at Wendy's, walking a mile and a half, sometimes in the snow, to get to a job where his duties included scraping old ketchup packets off of the concrete in the parking lot. "I got to a place that I'm not proud of. I was at the end of my rope. I was broken," Walden said. But his time at Wendy's, as humbling as it may have been, was an important step. He...