Mott notched up his fourth metropolitan success and 41st overall career win with a stirring victory by Our Lone Star last Sunday in a $135,000 three-year-old handicap (1700m).

City success made it back-to-back wins for the talented gelding, who broke his maiden on a soft 5 at Werribee over 1620m on April 10.

Albeit Mott initially had Our Lone Star earmarked for a different race, his definite intention was to have the horse peaking at this time of the year.

"I set him for the (inaugural) VOBIS Sires Guineas, which had been the plan for 12 months, but after he got rolled at Wodonga (in March), he just looked like a horse that needed to go win a maiden," he said.

"So, I took him off the Guineas path and took him to Werribee and two weeks later I took him to Flemington to race.

"The thrill is not only the development of the horse but the fact I picked him out to peak in this week 12 months ago.

"To actually get it right was quite a buzz. And to actually have a horse you can plan around and be strategic with is a thrill."

The win was Mott's first at racing headquarters in nine years.

He last won there with his first-up specialist Verdasco in a Saturday handicap event on June 16, 2012.

The smart gelding won three city races and six in total from 29 starts for Mott, with his two other metropolitan wins achieved at Moonee Valley

Mott said he had thought of Verdasco's Flemington win in the days before last Sunday.

"I knew my guy on Sunday could run top four, he'd improved that much during the preparation," he said.

"Post Werribee, he'd just thrived, that race didn't hurt him at all. For what it took out of him, it was pretty much a good trial for him.

"He rebounded magnificently out of it, so I knew he was pretty close to as good as I could get him.

"Given a good barrier, luck in running and a great ride, I was confident he could finish in the money."

Mott, who earned his first win as a trainer in 2005, joked that his four city wins - from 44 starts - likely meant that his city strike rate was superior to that on country tracks.

Our Lone Star, who was ridden by Teo Nugent, is a full brother to In Her Honour, a horse who means so much to Mott, and provided him with one of the most special wins of his training career.

The mare's win at Wodonga in March, 2019 was Mott's first following the death of his wife Deanna in October, 2017.

Fittingly, In Her Honour was named in Deanna's honour.

Mott said the Anzac Day win was right up there as one of the most exceptional of his training career.

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Sean Mott's emotional win in honour of his late wife, Deanna

Mott said the Anzac Day win was right up there as one of the most exceptional of his training career.

"Up until now, it's been pretty much trying to pinch a race here and there. In Her Honour, she is what she is, the honest 58-rater," he said.

"Like a lot of these horses, they're Goldilocks and you have to get everything just right and everything has to go right.

"This guy (Our Lone Star), having a degree of talent, I have been able to be a bit more strategic with him, so that makes it very special.

"Verdasco, I was very deliberate in his first-ever race start and wanted to win with him, which I did and in his career there were a few target races and I got one or two of those.

"In Her Honour's first too very special. Donna and I basically worked as a training partnership, so to actually do it yourself without your partner there gave me the self-belief I could do this after being in a training partnership for 12 years and 17 years together overall.

"Developing our own training program and feeding program and what you do behind the scenes and then to have to do it all yourself, that win was special in a different way."

Mott has booked a return trip to Flemington with Our Lone Star for a 2000m three-year-old handicap on May 22.

They will head there with a good degree of confidence.

"From what we saw the other day, he's always shown me good ability, hence that's why I picked out the VOBIS Guineas 12 months ago as the target race for him," he said.

"When you see horses do what he did at Flemington, after a lifetime in racing and working at Flemington for seven years, you go back and try and do that again.

"It's the old horses for courses thing. When they can peel out wide a fair way out and sustain a long run over 800m, that says a lot. You don't go mixing your tracks."

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