SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. - Jockey Junior Alvarado and trainer Bill Mott have been a stellar team on big stages, campaigning with Horse of the Year Cody's Wish and this year's Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty. On Saturday at Saratoga, Alvarado and the Hall of Fame trainer's son Riley Mott showed they are a world-beating team, too.
World Beater, with Alvarado picking up the mount at a late hour, rallied in the stretch to edge Juwelier by a half-length to top an international field in the Grade 1, $750,000 Saratoga Derby on the turf.
It was not only the first Grade 1 win, but also the first graded stakes win of any level for Riley Mott, who hung out his own shingle in 2022.
"No words can describe it," Riley Mott said immediately postrace. "My dad is here, my family, my extended family. It's very special to me."
Indeed, it was a crowded winner's circle - including Bill Mott, who came down the stairs from the stands beaming as though he had won the race - for World Beater ($24.40), who has now won two stakes from his last three outings. After taking the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs, he was second in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby on July 4 to Test Score, and now has turned the tables.
"He tries hard every time," Riley Mott said of Pin Oak Stud's Oscar Performance colt.
Alvarado picked up the mount when Jaime Torres, who had ridden World Beater in all but one of his starts, encountered travel issues due to bad weather last night.
"You don't want to do it that way, but I'm glad I picked it up," Alvarado said. "The Mott connection, I had to do it. But I do feel terrible for Jaime ... things just happen."
Alvarado settled his pickup mount in fifth and was unhurried through the opening half as an eager Juwelier, winner of the Group 3 German Derby Trial in his most recent start, led through that half in 47.67 seconds with a six-length lead. Fellow European invader Tiberius Thunder was second, with Test Score, sent away as the second choice, sitting a beautiful tracking trip in third.
Rounding the far turn, the closers began to rev up, but Juwelier had a second wind. After cutting the corner, he opened a lead of more than two lengths into the stretch. World Beater had been tipped out and was rallying in about the four-path, with Test Score immediately to his outside. He collared the leader in the late stages, and with stout handling from Alvarado scrubbing on his neck, he edged clear of an ultra-game Juwelier by half a length at the wire, with Test Score just a head back in third.
"I think it was meant to be, I guess," Alvarado said of winning for Riley Mott. "I have been looking for him to get his first Grade 1 because he's Bill's son, I have been working with him for years."
Favored Hotazhell, who has faced some of Europe's best this season, had just one horse, Final Gambit, beaten down the backstretch. He encountered a bit of traffic into the stretch but quickly found a seam for his run, finishing a length back of Test Score in fourth. Final Gambit was another 1 1/4 lengths back, and was followed, in order, by New Century, Capitol Hill, Tiberius Thunder, and Tiztastic.
The time for the 1 3/16 miles on the outer turf course rated firm on a postcard-perfect day was 1:52.82. World Beater was given a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
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