Bill Mott Looks to Make It Back-to-Back with Derby Sleeper Chief Wallabee

At 72 years old, Hall of Famer Bill Mott has become a force on the first Saturday in May, but his early career tells a different story. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame at just 45 in 1998, Mott was winless in the Kentucky Derby—a humbling 0-for-3 with finishes of 13th, 8th, and 14th. His legendary skill with older horses and turf specialists had earned him a ticket to trainer heaven well before tasting Derby glory. Now, after his first win with the 65-1 shot Country House (2019) and last year's dominant victory with Horse of the Year Sovereignty (74), Mott is gunning for back-to-back Derby crowns with Chief Wallabee (56), a colt whose racing resume reads like a highlight reel despite having just three career starts.

Chief Wallabee made his debut on January 10 at Gulfstream Park and has been turning heads ever since. He broke his maiden by a half-length at seven furlongs, then came within a neck of winning the Fountain of Youth Stakes in his second outing before finishing a close third in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. The fact that the winners of those Gulfstream races—most notably Commandment (55)—are shaping up as potential favorites on May 2 speaks volumes about the quality of opposition Chief Wallabee has already faced.

“I always believed that a Derby winner had to run as a 2-year-old, but now it's totally different,” Mott observed this week. “A lot of horses are coming in with fewer races.” This philosophical shift reflects modern racing trends, and Chief Wallabee embodies it perfectly—a lightly raced but deeply talented prospect who hasn't quite had ideal trip luck in his recent outings.

In both Gulfstream stakes races, Chief Wallabee found himself four-wide, which is precisely why Mott decided to try blinkers for the first time during a workout on April 20 at Churchill Downs. The results were immediately impressive. Working five furlongs in a dead flat 1:00 with jockey Junior Alvarado, the colt zipped that final furlong in just 11.80 seconds before galloping out strongly to seven-eighths in 1:26.60. “He was very focused,” Alvarado reported, and Mott couldn't have been more pleased. “I thought it was very good, he finished really well and galloped out strong. He's an inexperienced horse and we put the blinkers on to help him focus. I feel good about our horse. He's very talented.”

The numbers support Mott's optimism. Chief Wallabee carries an Equibase rating of 112 for the Derby, tied for seventh among contenders, with his best speed figure coming from that close second in the Fountain of Youth at 99. Built on a Constitution pedigree that traces to the stamina influences of Medaglia d'Oro and Ghostzapper, this bay colt appears constructed for the one-and-a-quarter-mile test at Churchill Downs.

From a betting perspective, Chief Wallabee doesn't need to improve dramatically to be right there at the finish line. At 10-1 on the morning line, he represents genuine value as a late addition to the Derby field who's already proven he can run with elite competition. Play him to win and place, and include him in any exotic combinations you're considering.

If Chief Wallabee pulls off the upset, Mott would become the first trainer to win the Derby in consecutive years since Bob Baffert accomplished the feat with Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998). Junior Alvarado, who proved unshakeable aboard Sovereignty last year after going 0-for-5 in Derby tries, would become only the third jockey to capture back-to-back Derbies since Victor Espinoza did it with California Chrome (2014) and American Pharaoh (2015). All the narrative threads are in place for a storybook finish on the first Saturday in May.