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Mott pupils take to the track in preparation for Breeders' Cup A trio of Breeders' Cup contenders from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott -- To Honor and Serve (Classic), Royal Delta (Ladies' Classic) and Courageous Cat (Mile) -- worked on Sunday at Churchill Downs to complete a busy weekend for the five horses the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs is pointing toward Breeders' Cup races November 4-5. Live Oak Plantation's To Honor and Serve, recent winner of the Grade 2, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby who was considered a strong candidate for the Kentucky Derby before he went to the sidelines with an injury, was credited by Churchill Downs clockers with a four-furlong work over the fast track in :50. His official fractions for the work were :13 3/5, :25 4/5 and :37 3/5 and he was credited with a five-furlong gallop-out in :1:03. Mott was pleased with To Honor and Serve's work under Rudolph Brisset, but the trainer felt the move was faster than the official time credited to the three-year-old son of Bernardini. "Kenny (assistant Kenny McCarthy) had him from the three-eighth (pole) to the seven-eighths in :48-and-three (fifths)," said Mott, who watched the work on the track atop a stable pony. "He galloped our strong over there and my guess is he went a little better than :50. It was his first work here and we weren't asking for too much." Palides Investments' Royal Delta, victress of the Grade 1 Alabama and Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan, also worked over the Churchill Downs track for the first time and covered four furlongs in :48 2/5. Brisset was in the irons aboard the three-year-old daughter of Empire Maker as she covered the distance in fractional clockings of :13, :25 and :36 4/5, with a five-furlong gallop-out of 1:02 3/5. "She's doing well," Mott said. "It was her first work here and she did it very easily. She came back good." Royal Delta's work tied as the eighth-fastest of 52 moves at the distance. Courageous Cat, Pam and Martin Wygod and William S. Farish's winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf at Hollywood Park, was the fastest of Mott's Sunday workers as he breezed four furlongs over the main track in :48 2/5, which tied as second-fastest of 52 works at the distance. The five-year-old son of Storm Cat worked in company with stablemate Clear Attempt, who finished his half-mile in :48 4/5. The remaining two horses in Mott's quintet of Breeders' Cup contenders worked together over a fast track on Saturday. WinStar Farm's Drosselmeyer (Classic), winner of the 2010 Belmont Stakes and runner-up to Flat Out in the recent Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Preston Stables' Grade 2 Brooklyn winner Birdrun (Marathon) worked four furlongs in company. Drosselmeyer finished the work in :47 3/5, the fastest of Saturday's 54 half-mile works, while Birdrun completed his workout in :48 2/5, a time posted as the sixth-best of the day at the distance. Other Breeders' Cup contenders on the Churchill Downs track on Sunday included Hamazing Destiny (Sprint), who worked four furlongs in :48 3/5 for all-time Breeders' Cup win leader D. Wayne Lukas. Barry Butzow and Westrock Stable's five-year-old son of Salt Lake was the runner-up to Big Drama in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs and was last seen finishing third in the Group 3 Phoenix at Keeneland. Bluegrass Hall LLC's Optimizer (Juvenile or Juvenile Turf), third in the recent Group 1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and also trained by Lukas, worked a half-mile :48 2/5. Optimizer's move also tied as second-fastest work at the distance.
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