LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Hall of Famer Bill Mott has become the seventh trainer in history with 5,000 wins.
Moon Over Miami won the third race at Churchill Downs on Saturday by a length after being saddled by Mott’s assistant Kenny McCarthy. Mott was at Belmont Park in New York, where he was overseeing Modernist in the Belmont Stakes.
Mott ranks seventh in all-time wins behind retired leader Dale Baird, who had 9,445.
Mott has trained Country House, last year’s Kentucky Derby winner by disqualification, 1996 Dubai World Cup winner Cigar, and 2010 Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer.
He was the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs for over 31 years until Dale Romans surpassed him in 2017.
The South Dakota native took out his trainer’s license at age 16 in 1969 and opened his own stable in 1978.