The $500,000 Old Dominion Derby (G3) Saturday will feature one of the nation\u2019s top 3-year-old turf routers as Pin Oak Stud\u2019s World Beater takes on eight going 1 1\/8 miles at Colonial Downs.<\/p>\n
In his most recent start, World Beater offered a determined closing run, reeling in front-runner Juwelier and holding off a late bid by Test Score to win the Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1), providing trainer Riley Mott his first graded stakes victory.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe\u2019s done really well since,\u201d Mott said. \u201cHe\u2019s had two works and hasn\u2019t missed a beat. The timing of the Old Dominion Derby is perfect\u2014five weeks after his last race. Colonial has a really nice turf course, one we like for him. And it\u2019s a good purse at $500,000, so hopefully we can keep the horse on a good roll.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a runner-up finish in the Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) and a win in the Audubon (L) at Churchill Downs in May, World Beater has earned $826,414 from eight starts, hitting the board in all six of his turf races.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not the electrifying type who goes from last to first in a blink,\u201d Mott said. \u201cHe\u2019s more of a grinder, a steady-moving horse. But he always shows up. He tries. He can be outside horses, between horses\u2014you know he\u2019s going to be there for you. So he\u2019s very genuine.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a pair of unsuccessful dirt starts as a 2-year-old, World Beater launched his sophomore turf campaign with a third-place finish against a strong field at Gulfstream Park\u2019s Championship Meet. He followed that effort with a runner-up finish at Keeneland, proving unflappable through tight quarters before producing a spirited rally to finish ahead of three next-out winners.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou can\u2019t really train that into them,\u201d Mott said. \u201cWe can get them fit, but talent and grit\u2014you know, they either have it or they don\u2019t. I think his first couple of turf races were very good.\u201d<\/p>\n
World Beater broke his maiden on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, again showing composure in traffic before splitting horses and quickening to the wire.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just kind of goes out there and does his job,\u201d Mott said. \u201cHe\u2019s been a fun one to have in the barn. I guess when you\u2019re starting out your career, you\u2019re always hoping for that one horse to maybe take you from here to there. Hopefully, he\u2019s that one and continues to be. He\u2019ll always have a special place in our stable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based in Kentucky, Mott plans to attend Old Dominion Derby Day at Colonial Downs.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re excited,\u201d Mott said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of ties to Colonial. My wife\u2019s whole side of the family is from around that area, so we\u2019ll have a big crowd there. Debbie Easter, president of the Virginia Equine Alliance, was one of my first supporters when I went out on my own. So I\u2019m excited to take the horse there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mott took out his trainer\u2019s license in 2022 after eight years as an assistant to his father, Hall of Famer Bill Mott. Though World Beater is his first graded stakes winner, he brings plenty of experience at this level.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t try to do anything too fancy,\u201d Mott said. \u201cYou just keep them happy and healthy. You train them like any other horse. Make logical decisions and don\u2019t get too cute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jaime Torres, World Beater\u2019s regular rider who missed the Saratoga Derby due to a travel issue, is named to ride the 9-5 morning-line favorite from post 6 in the Old Dominion Derby.<\/p>\n
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With $1.3 million in total purses across six turf stakes, the Old Dominion Derby Day program also features the $250,000 Old Dominion Oaks (L), $150,000 Colonial Cup, $150,000 Da Hoss, $125,000 Exacta Systems Rosie\u2019s Stakes, and $125,000 Kitten\u2019s Joy.<\/p>\n
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report<\/a> on Sep 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the News<\/a> section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The $500,000 Old Dominion Derby (G3) Saturday will feature one of the nation\u2019s top 3-year-old turf routers as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[8089,18595,52422,3004,52423,52424,101,56,54,55,52421],"class_list":{"0":"post-108025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-bill-mott","9":"tag-colonial-downs","10":"tag-old-dominion","11":"tag-racing","12":"tag-riley-mott","13":"tag-saratoga-derby","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom","18":"tag-world-beater"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}