Bred by Jacqueline Getty Phillips and her son, Michael D. Riordan,[1] Bates Motel was foaled in Kentucky and was sent by his breeder/owners in October 1980 to the annual auction at Newmarket in England.
[2] Named for the Bates Motel in the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, the colt was conditioned by English-born trainer John Gosden.
During the year, a share of the horse was sold to the prominent Kentucky breeder John R. Gaines, the then-owner of Gainesway Farm near Lexington.
Retired to stud duty beginning with the 1984 season, among his offspring, Bates Motel sired multiple stakes winner Packett's Landing, Private School, and Rare Blend, plus Canadian Oaks winner Blondeinamotel and Batuka, a Peruvian Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old filly.
[3] Pensioned in 2003,[4] Bates Motel was humanely euthanized at Gainesway Farm on October 12, 2004, due to the infirmities of old age.