World Beater Eyes $500K Prize in Old Dominion Derby

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. 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 (IRE) head the field for the $250,000 contest. The Brendan Walsh-trained Sigh No More (IRE) 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 (AUS) 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).