If a list were made of the most likely candidates to bring a lightly raced horse with scant graded stakes experience into one of the hardest tests in Thoroughbred racing, Bill Mott's name would be at the bottom.
One of the hallmarks of Mott's Hall of Fame career has been to err on the side of patience, even in the face of tempting circumstances. Exhibit A is the fact he has made only the occasional drop-in appearance in the Kentucky Derby, saddling just seven starters and none since Hold Me Back in 2009.
He is among the last trainers to rush a horse into a race for the sake of being there. So even as Mott stood before a pack of media April 29 and eloquently broke down the reasons why Juddmonte Farms' homebred Hofburg instills confidence, there was no better testimony to how highly regarded the son of Tapit is than the fact he emerged from his stall at Churchill Downs draped in a Derby saddle towel, going through the paces only the best of his class are being asked to do.
Hofburg was the lone Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) hopeful on the grounds to put in a timed workout Sunday morning, and an impressive solo show it was. Working in company with Villamay , the chestnut colt had his way with things during a half-mile breeze in :48 1/5.
In his third move since jumping up to run second in the March 31 Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1), Hofburg easily handled his workmate and posted splits of :13 1/5, :24 3/5, and :36 1/5 with a gallop out to five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 and six furlongs in 1:14 4/5.
"He looked smooth as silk coming by me," Mott said of Hofburg, who has made just three career starts heading into the 10-furlong classic. "When he passed the eighth pole and approached the wire, he looked really good, switched leads and went into the turn and galloped out good around the turn. I was very pleased with the work. Visually, he looked as good as he can look."
The idea of a Derby campaign wasn't something Juddmonte and Mott gave a ton of thought to with Hofburg at the start of the year. He was precocious enough to debut at Saratoga Race Course, finishing fourth in a seven-furlong event Sept. 2, but some "baby issues"—shins and the like— kept him sidelined until March when he resurfaced in a maiden race at Gulfstream Park.
His half-length margin of victory that day was something Mott said didn't tell the full story of how impressive the colt ran as he ate a ton of dirt and traveled wide on both turns. When he bounced out of that run with indications of wanting more, Mott figured it was worth getting a read on what he had in the Florida Derby.
"This horse just led me into it," Mott said of the Florida Derby. "I don' think this was a case where I forced him into it. He broke his maiden and looked good doing it. I looked at the schedule, and they have all the big races around the country that time of year, so the horses are spread out a bit. And I thought (because) we were in Florida … it made sense to run in there. I thought it would be a good experience for him."
Though he was beaten three lengths by Audible in the Florida Derby, Hofburg was 7 3/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Mississippi and left graded stakes winners Catholic Boy , Strike Power , and Promises Fulfilled in his wake. No one would have blinked if Mott and the Juddmonte team opted at that point to find a less steep next step for the colt to climb.
For connections who pride themselves on listening to the horse above all, both sides say this ambitious decision was agreeable to Hofburg.
"He never had anything major wrong with him, just developmental stuff that occurred at the wrong time," said Garrett O'Rourke, U.S. manager of Juddmonte Farms. "We had put the idea of a Derby campaign on the back burner, but the horse just came around so quickly.
"He is not a backwards horse by any means. Everything has just fallen into place to where you want to go into a race like this when the horse is dragging you there, and we feel like the horse is dragging us there."
Both Juddmonte and Mott have won legs of the Triple Crown before, with the former taking the 2003 Belmont Stakes (G1) with Empire Maker and Mott saddling Drosselmeyer to win the 2010 edition of the 12-furlong classic. Neither entity has chased the Kentucky Derby with the fervor of needing it to define their established excellence—which would make it particularly enjoyable if a colt who forced their conservative hands ended up delivering the goods.
"Well, I've tried to downplay it a bit when I don't have a horse in," Mott grinned, when asked what a Kentucky Derby win would mean to him. "You say, 'Well, when it happens, it happens.' But I mean, anybody would have to realize it would be a great race to win.
"We're happy to be here, we want to run well, and we want to be proud of our horse after the race. And I think he'll make us proud."