GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic heroine and likely champion 3-year-old filly Royal Delta (Empire Maker) will remain with conditioner Bill Mott for a 2012 campaign, the Hall of Fame trainer confirmed Monday. The dark bay was purchased at Keeneland November by Ben Leon's Besilu Stable for $8.5M out of the dispersal of the late Prince Saud bin Khaled's Palides Investments N.V., Inc. Mott had not had any contact with Leon until last week, at which point Royal Delta joined his Florida string at Payson Park.

"I speak for myself and my entire crew when I say that we're just really happy to have her back," said Mott. "We feel very, very fortunate to get another opportunity with her. She's been very good to us and we've kind of thought she was the queen all along and she proved it at the end of the year. We're excited to see where she takes us from here."

Mott mentioned the Mar. 31 G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan as a potential beginning of the year target for the "TDN Rising Star."

"We're just in the very preliminary stages of planning her campaign," he said. "But we've got the World Cup as a possibility.That's something that we would definitely consider with her. It all hinges on how well she's doing at the time."

When asked about what went into the decision to point for Dubai, Mott, who took the inaugural running of the world's richest race in 1996 with Cigar, said, "It was something that was discussed [between myself and Mr. Leon], but it's something I've been thinking about all along...The World Cup would be a step up for her, but why not?"

Mott said that the GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic would still be Royal Delta's likely year-end goal, but maintained that all decisions were subject to change and that her condition would be the deciding factor.

"Those kinds are so hard to come by, so we're just very pleased to have her back," he concluded. "Anything better than what she's already done would be a big challenge, but we'll try."