All in all it was a pretty good day for the home team, or at least, maybe the extended home team, Saturday at Colonial Downs.

There was Casa Cielo, based all summer at Colonial for trainer Keith Desormeaux, fending off a mid-race challenge to kick clear and win the Kitten’s Joy for two-year-olds. There was trainer Jonathan Thomas, a Virginia native, scratching two of his three runners in the Old Dominion Oaks, leaving only As Catch Can, who slipped through inside to spring a 16-1 upset.

There was trainer Riley Mott, whose wife is a Charlottesville native, surrounded by a robust cheering section after winning the Grade 3 Old Dominion Derby with World Beater, who on this day lived up to his name.

“Look, I’m from Virginia,” Thomas said. “It’s really cool winning a big race here. We love it here.”

As Catch Can, a Mo Town filly he trains for Augustin Stables, was the highest-priced winner of the day, returning backers $34.20 for a two-dollar win wager. Perhaps the tip that she was live came from the trainer’s decision to scratch his two other runners, including the more logical-on-paper contender Will Then, who was 7-2 on the morning line.

“This filly had been training the best of anybody,” Thomas explained. “I was hoping we made the right decision when we scratched the others, but that was our gut yesterday. Between my assistant and I, we just felt she was training so well.”

She ran to her training, rallying along the rail under Jaime Torres to wear down 6-5 favorite and longtime leader Evershed to win by three parts of a length.

“She’s very tenacious,” Thomas said. “You know what? What she’s lacked in quality at times, she’s always made up for in fortitude. She really, really tries hard. If you look through her form, it’s very rare she’s not closing or finishing or just getting beat. So I’m really proud of her to win a stake.”

World Beater already had his stakes victory, in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational, no less. So it was no surprise that he posted an easy win in the Grade 3 Old Dominion Derby – he was off at 2-5 – but it was still gratifying to Mott. His wife Megan hails from Charlottesville, and a Virginia-based rooting section savored the moment.

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“She was raised there,” Mott said. “My in-laws still live there. My sister-in-law lives in Richmond, and so we had a pretty big crowd. It’s just really fun.”

One of the people Mott saw Saturday was Debbie Easter, the former executive director of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association.

“She was actually one of my first owners when I broke out on my own, one of my first supporters,” Mott said. “You always remember those people. To be able to bring the horse here, where she’s so heavily involved in Virginia racing, was a big deal.”

Mott said that World Beater, whom he trains for Pin Oak Stud LLC, would likely not point to the Breeders’ Cup, preferring not to send his sophomore to tangle with older horses.

On the other hand, if Casa Cielo’s owners have their way, their two-year-old Caravaggio colt will head to Del Mar.

Casa Cielo, based at Colonial this summer, broke his maiden at second asking over the Colonial turf July 25. He posted three works at the track between then and Saturday’s $125,000 Kitten’s Joy, which he won by nearly three lengths.

Mark Hatcher and David Clapp, who, with partners, race as Don’t Tell My Wife Stables 2024, LLC, had traveled up from Kentucky to watch the race. The week before, Hatcher had gone to Kentucky Downs to root their trainer, Keith Desormeaux, on as he sent out Bear River to win the Grade 2 Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint to punch a Breeders’ Cup ticket.

This one was different, though. This one was his.

“I had a great time at Kentucky Downs,” Hatcher said. “I’m having a better time here today, though.”