Peter Brant shifts most horses from Chad Brown to Mott, Clement

Peter Brant’s decision to move roughly 75% of his horses away from Chad Brown is a full-scale power shift at the top of the sport, not a routine stable shuffle. The horses are being redistributed to Bill Mott, Riley Mott and Miguel Clement, immediately changing the shape of one of racing’s most visible owner-trainer partnerships and resetting where Brant’s best turf and dirt stock will land this summer.

The biggest name in the breakup is Gezora, the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner, who is now with Bill Mott. That alone changes the stakes picture in a hurry. A Breeders’ Cup winner does not just alter a barn roster; she changes targeting decisions, rider plans and which races become priorities in the months ahead. Brant and Brown had been paired since 2018 and had produced 26 Grade 1 victories together, a run that made the operation one of the most productive in New York racing. With Brant saying he has 50 to 60 horses in training, the split removes a major block of depth from Brown’s stable and gives Mott, Riley Mott and Clement a stronger hand in graded-stakes placement.

The break had been building around Gezora’s first start of the year. Brown sent her to the May 1 Modesty Stakes at Churchill Downs, where she finished second to Kathynmarissa after giving weight to the field. Brant said the loss itself was not the breaking point, but he was unhappy with the placement and did not want to spot weight to competitive horses in a horse’s first start of the year. He had even brushed off the speculation beforehand, saying it was “Not true” before the move was confirmed. Brown still had at least one Brant horse, Lost Horizon, entered for the Serena’s Song Stakes at Monmouth, a sign that the separation was significant without being total.

Brant’s exit from Brown’s stable also carries a familiar edge for the sport’s power structure. Brant has been involved in racing since the 1970s, with names like Waya, Just a Game and Gulch on his résumé, and he returned in 2016 after a long absence. That history matters because he has repeatedly shown the willingness to reposition when he thinks his best horses need a different path. This latest move gives Mott, Riley Mott and Clement a bigger share of Brant’s firepower and leaves Brown to replace one of the most lucrative and recognizable owner relationships in racing.