Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who has already won the Santa Anita and
Oaklawn Park Handicaps with Ron the Greek, sends out To Honor and Serve for his 2012 debut in Saturday’s
$150,000 Westchester, with an eye towards
Memorial Day’s Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap.
“For any stallion, the Met Mile is a very important race,”
said Mott, who added the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs would be the next
start for Ron the Greek. “I would love to win the race.”
Also in Mott’s barn are 2011’s 3-year-old filly champion Royal Delta and a new acquisition, Flat Out, winner of last year’s Grade
2 Suburban and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Royal Delta, who finished ninth in the Dubai World Cup on March 31, has
resumed galloping with no definite plans for her return to the races, said
Mott.
“She’s just started up galloping,” said the trainer.
“She’s been tack-walking and jogging, and she got to feeling so
good I had to start training her. I can’t hardly hold her on the
ground.”
Flat Out, said Mott, will not return to the races for several months.
“The earliest he would be ready is the Suburban on July 2,”
he said. “That would be the earliest possible, and that might not be
giving him enough time. He had a little vacation.”
Flat Out compiled a record of 2-3-1 from eight starts last year, and
this year was winless in two starts at Gulfstream Park
for former trainer Scooter Dickey, including a fifth-place finish in the Grade
1 Donn Handicap on February 12.