Recent grade 1 winner World Beater will leave New York and venture southward with an eye on the $500,000 prize for the Old Dominion Derby (G3T) Sep. 6 at Colonial Downs.
Pin Oak Stud's World Beater may have taken five starts to break his maiden, but has ascended the class ladder rapidly since then for trainer Riley Mott. The 3-year-old son of Oscar Performance closed to take the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs in May before running second to Test Score in the July 4 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T). Tackling that foe again in the Aug. 2 Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T), World Beater gained the upper hand on Test Score, rallying to a half-length score at 11-1 odds and giving Mott his first grade 1 victory. He posted a field-best Equibase Speed Figure of 110 for his winning performance.
World Beater cuts back from 1 3/16 miles to 1 1/8 miles for the Old Dominion Derby, which was previously run as the Virginia Derby before that race was reimagined as a dirt race and placed on Colonial Downs' calendar in March.
Jaime Torres, the colt's pilot for his maiden and Audubon win, has the mount.
If he can bounce back to his effort two races back, Calumet Farm's Native Runner stands to be the biggest competition for World Beater. Narrowly beaten in the June 28 American Derby, the Kenny McPeek trainee was a disappointing eighth as the favorite in the Aug. 2 Kentucky Downs Preview Nashville Derby at Ellis Park.
Colonial Downs, Saturday, September 6, 2025, Race 10Entries: Old Dominion Derby (G3T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Native Runner (KY) Horacio Karamanos 118 Kenneth G. McPeek - 2 Mesero (KY) Mychel J. Sanchez 118 Dale L. Romans - 3 Just a Fair Shake (KY) Xavier Perez 118 Daniel J. McKenzie - 4 Soleil Volant (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 118 H. Graham Motion - 5 Iron Hand (FL) Edwin Gonzalez 118 Jose Francisco D'Angelo - 6 World Beater (KY) Jaime A. Torres 123 Riley Mott - 7 Thirteen Colonies (KY) Axel Concepcion 118 Philip Antonacci - 8 Lured Away (KY) Emmanuel Esquivel 118 Kenneth G. McPeek - 9 Outrunner (KY) Paco Lopez 118 Jorge Duarte, Jr. -
Old Dominion Oaks
The Old Dominion Oaks, a 1 1/8-mile turf test for 3-year-old fillies, also underwent a name change this year.
Three stakes-winning fillies and a multiple stakes-placed runner in Pretty Lavish head the field for the $250,000 contest.
The Brendan Walsh-trained Sigh No More looks to rebound from a sixth-place effort in her most recent outing in the Aug. 9 Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes (G2T). A group 3 winner in her native Ireland, the daughter of Starspangledbanner landed her first domestic stakes win when defeating Pretty Lavish in the Boiling Springs Stakes June 29 at Monmouth Park.
Walsh will also run Somethinabouther, a grade 3 winner in Canada, for owners X-Men Racing IV, Madaket Stables, and SF Racing.
Two-time stakes winner Will Then is one of three entrants for trainer Jonathan Thomas and owner Augustin Stables. The War of Will filly, raced in California this summer, ships east in hopes of returning to her best form after running fifth in the Aug. 16 Del Mar Oaks (G1T).
Colonial Downs, Saturday, September 6, 2025, Race 9Entries: Old Dominion Oaks
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Somethinabouther (KY) Mychel J. Sanchez 118 Brendan P. Walsh - 2 As Catch Can (FL) Jaime A. Torres 118 Jonathan Thomas - 3 Sigh No More (IRE) Axel Concepcion 122 Brendan P. Walsh - 4 Pretty Lavish (IRE) Kendrick Carmouche 118 H. Graham Motion - 5 Mischief in Motion (KY) Jorge Ruiz 118 Michael J. Trombetta - 6 Sheila's Lion (KY) Francisco Arrieta 118 J. Keith Desormeaux - 7 Evershed (IRE) Daniel Centeno 118 Arnaud Delacour - 8 Be Together (KY) Gavin Ashton 118 Jonathan Thomas - 9 Stillthinkingofyou (KY) Paco Lopez 118 Derek S. Ryan - 10 Will Then (KY) Jaime Rodriguez 122 Jonathan Thomas -
