Things are falling into place for Riley Mott. Last year, just hours after World Beater delivered Riley his first Grade I victory in the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes, the 34-year-old celebrated quietly: Back home with takeout pizza, a beer alongside his father, Bill, and was asleep by 9 p.m. Still, it marked a milestone years in the making, reached less than three years after launching his own stable at the track where his ambitions first took shape. The momentum has only grown since, with Argos capturing the Summer Stakes and earning a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf berth. Now, Mott finds himself on the brink of a Kentucky Derby debut.

Riley has been thrown straight into the deep end against the sport’s elite. He will go up against Chad Brown, Brad Cox, and, in a compelling twist, his own father, Bill Mott. While Brown and Cox are giants in their own right, Mott Sr. arguably stands above them all. Especially as he is regarded as one of America’s finest turf trainers. Yet despite the odds, Riley enters the Derby having already made a statement of his own.

“Some people work their entire life to get a horse that can even sniff the Derby trail, and they don’t,” Mott said, via The Courier Journal. “I think just to be in the mix is such a big deal. And that’s the beautiful thing about our game: It doesn’t matter if you have 10 horses or 100 horses, a good horse can come through this barn at any time.”

After all, unlike his father, Riley Mott enters the Kentucky Derby with not one but two horses in the mix in Albus and Incredibolt. He’s one of only three trainers in this year’s event, alongside Brown and Cox, with multiple starters.

It marks a rather incredible rise for the now-34-year-old, although it comes as no surprise given his legacy. His father is, after all, a Hall of Fame horse-racing trainer, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner, and has won over 5,000 races in his career. And Mott spent the first 30 years of his life watching and learning from him. In fact, he knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up. Not only that, Mott junior realised, in his late twenties, that his chance was now or never.

And he took it, doing relatively well since then. However, it took him three years before Riley Mott earned his first Grade 1 win, winning the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes. He then did it again when Argos won the bet365 Summer Stakes in 2025. And now, he has the chance to do more, even if the enormity of it all hasn’t quite sunk in.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. Everything’s happened so quick,” Mott revealed. “We’re certainly excited and anxious. There’s a big lead-up.”

What makes Riley Mott’s potential victory that much more interesting is his team. Ever since he started his own stable in November 2022, Mott has looked to give back in his own way. Because more than anyone, the now 34-year-old has seen how horse racing has changed in America. What was once a key part of the season for most has become a sport that not many follow anymore.

Mott has been looking to change that in his own way by hiring youngsters to work for him. Both Horacio Padilla (19) and Will Ghriskey (21) have worked for him for a few years and have a history with horses. And as his father did to him, Mott has been bleeding in the young generation from the moment his stable kicked off.

“I love bringing in the younger generation. I think exposing the younger generation to the sport is so important,” Mott explained. “I like to say, ‘Grow the game.’ I think that’s so vital. And I feel like it’s part of doing my part to introduce young, ambitious people to the game that love horses and love racing.”

Still, with all his experience, his team rallying behind him, and two excellent horses, Riley Mott will be feeling the pressure. His father, Bill, on the other hand, is rather confident, though, about going into the race.

Bill Mott confident about Chief Wallabee going into the Kentucky Derby

It goes without saying that Bill is a legend of the sport. He was the youngest trainer to ever be inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame has 15 Breeders’ Cup victories and countless other accolades. As if that wasn’t enough, he returns to the Kentucky Derby with jockey Junior Alvarado. The two combined to win the 2025 Kentucky Derby with Sovereignty, and this time, Alvarado will be racing Chief Wallabee.

Despite making his debut only in 2026, Chief Wallabee has done well. The three-year-old horse placed first in his debut, second in his official debut, and third at the Florida Derby.

“I feel good about our horse,” Mott said as per Wlky.com. “He’s maybe a little less experienced and got a later start, but he’s very talented and he’s got a wonderful disposition.”

After he ran in the Florida Derby, Mott and Alvarado felt a change was needed. They opted to add blinkers to the young colt, hoping the adjustment would sharpen his focus and bring out a better performance. For the unversed, blinkers limit a horse’s side and rear vision, thus helping them sharpen their focus. For younger horses, it helps more as it allows them to break better and focus more.

“He was green in between horses,” Mott senior added. “It looked like he was running spots. He’s an inexperienced horse, he’s got a limited number of races, and he just probably needs a little something to help him focus a little bit.”

Ultimately, the track will decide whether that belief pays off, as experience collides with youth in the sport’s biggest race. But with two contenders and a young team behind him, Riley Mott has already carved out his own space. And perhaps ahead of a two-time Derby winner.