World Approval

A gelding raced by his breeder Live Oak Stud, World Approval broke his maiden in March of this year and followed it up with a Sophomore Turf Stakes win. He earned his first graded stakes victory in July in the American Derby and added to that total in late August with a win in the Saranac Stakes  by a neck over Money Multiplier. 

As a 4-year-old, World Approval made a big jump forward to the Grade 1 level where he performed exceptionally well. Placing second and third in his first two Grade 1 starts of the year, he went on to win the United Nations Stakes as one of three Grade/Group 1 winners Mark Casse had in a three-week period. He also finished third in the Grade 1 Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine.

After winning a stakes race at Tampa Bay Downs to kick off his 5-year-old season in April 2017, World Approval dominated the opposition in winning the $250,000 Longines Dixie Stakes on the Preakness Stakes undercard. He faded to fifth, beaten by less than two lengths in the Grade 1 Manhattan Stakes, but rebounded to win the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap impressively in August at Saratoga. A month later, World Approval cemented his status as one of the best turf milers on the planet when he rolled to a dominant victory in the Grade 1 Ricoh Woodbine Mile Stakes, completing the distance in 1:33.05 and earning an automatic starting spot in the Breeders' Cup Mile.

World Approval confirmed his status as one of the best milers on the planet with a 1 1/4-length victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile on Nov. 4 at Del Mar. He stalked the pace from fifth and accelerated explosively in the stretch to win easily and cement his credentials as the leading candidate for the Eclipse Award as champion turf male, which he won in January at the Eclipse Awards ceremony.

World Approval made his 2018 debut a winning one when he held off a game Forge to win the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, where he prepped for the 2018 Dubai Turf at Meydan.

World Approval is a half-brother to tough turf stakes winning gelding Za Approval, who finished second in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Mile among other Grade 1 races, and champion Miesque's Approval, who won the Breeders' Cup Mile.