The U.S Hall of Fame trainer won the inaugural Dubai World Cup in 1996 with two-time US horse of the year Cigar.

Now, Mott has the chance to make Royal Delta the first filly to win the world’s richest horse race. He says the distance and track surface suited Royal Delta and welcomed the chance to test the four-year-old against favorites So You Think, Game On Dude and Smart Falcon.

“Coming back, it’s a big challenge,” Mott said. “It’s the biggest prize in racing right now. Naturally if you like competition, that is where you want to be.”

Mott said returning to Dubai came down to “having a horse in the barn good enough to come,” noting Royal Delta had a strong last year, including a win in the Ladies’ Classic at the Breeders’ Cup in November.

“She sort of earned her way into it,” he said. “It is not something that we imagined, that she is good enough. She’s done what we asked to do at home. The challenge is how she matches up with an international field. That is what this is all about.”

Asked about the prospects of a filly winning, Mott joked that “the first time we came no horse had won,” so all he saw was another obstacle to overcome in his illustrious career.

“Coming over here, we know they will bring the best of the best, and we’re going to have some very good horses in the race,” he said. “The only thing we can hope for is that our own does very well.”

Cigar proved a worthy entrant in the inaugural Dubai World Cup when he won by half a length over Soul of the Matter in a memorable race worth $4 million at the time. That was Cigar’s 14th straight win, and he’d add two more in his streak.

Mott, who favors a New York Yankees baseball cap and is known for his understated manner, said Cigar’s triumph back in the US.

“It was a huge win personally,” Mott said. “For America, anyone who was interested in horse racing was watching it on TV. At that time, you had to go to a betting facility or race track where they were simulcasting the race. People probably gathered in those spots where they were able to see it and it drew quite a crowd.”

Mott admitted the first-ever trip to the Middle East wasn’t without risks. Urged on by owner Allen E. Paulson, Mott traveled the 6,800 miles (10,900 kilometers) despite the fact that Cigar had never raced over a deep sandy surface, or encountered such a long home straight, 3/8 ths of a mile (600 meters).

His preparations were also disrupted, Mott said, after the horse developed an abscess on one of its hoofs which forced him to condense the training. And then there was Dubai which, at the time, was still a dusty trading center, nothing like today’s glitzy metropolis with miles of skyscrapers and the $2 billion Meydan Racing which will host the Dubai World Cup.

“The first time we came over with Cigar, there were so many unknowns,” Mott said. “We had no idea coming to this part of the world. We didn’t know what we would run into.”

Mott’s willingness to bring Cigar here in 1996 opened the door for other top American horses to make the trip to the United Arab Emirates, although that has dropped off some since Meydan opened. The track features an all-weather surface known as tapeta that is not liked by those whose horses normally run on dirt tracks.

Sending a horse, too, has become much easier as transport has been streamlined with many traveling in first-class luxury paid for by race organizers. Royal Delta made the trip in good shape, Mott said, and was “just floating over the ground” when she got out on the track on Wednesday.