2007 Belmont Stakes Winner
February 27 Rags to Riches
Let's jump right to her claim to fame, she is one of the rare fillies to win a leg of the Triple Crown when she won the 2007 Belmont Stakes. She's wonderfully bred by A.P. Indy whose stud career makes him the most successful son of Seattle Slew in the stud barn. Of course, Seattle Slew was a Triple Crown winner who went on to be an amazing stallion. On Rags To Riches dam side, she is out of the super mare Better Than Honor who produced two Belmont Stakes winners, R2R and Jazil who was raced by Sheikh Hamdan of Dubia. She also produced a talented runner in Casino Drive who race races/raced for Hidetoshi Yamamoto in Japan.
Oh when Rags To Riches won the Belmont, she did so with a head bob over Curlin who had won the Preakness three weeks earlier and would later win the Breeders' Cup Classic on his way to earning Horse of the Year honors, making Rags To Riches win the Belmont even more impressive.
Shortly after Rags To Riches joined the broodmares at Coolmore in Kentucky, I was able to visit her with my friend, Joe Brocklebank. This past December I went to the Kentucky Farm Managers' Dinner and in the silent auction was this really old, beat up, covered in dried mud halter, it was Rags To Riches. I had to get it. I talked with the gang from Coolmore when I was checking out and they told me that it was the only halter Rags To Riches ever wore at the farm for the past 16 years. Funny, that exactly what Jess Jackson said, when I bought the Curlin halter in 2008 at a gold tournament in Philadelphia for Alex's Lemonade Stand. For whatever reason, I still have the painting of Curlin winning the Dubai World Cup and the painting of Rags To Riches beating Curlin the Belmont and now I have the halter that Curlin wore through his entire racing career and the only halter Rags To Riches wore at Coolmore so, they hang on my easel side by, divided by the narrowest of distance, just like they were in the Belmont.
Rags To Riches was a regal chestnut filly who made history at Belmont Park in 2007 with one of the most thrilling Triple Crown wins of the modern era. She was foaled in 2004, a daughter of the great A.P. Indy out of the brilliant broodmare Better Than Honour. She was bred by James Tafel and sold as a yearling for $1.9 million to Michael Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier of the Coolmore partnership. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher got the training assignment, and John Velazquez would do the riding.
Rags To Riches showed her class right away as a three year old in 2007. She rolled through the Las Virgenes Stakes and the Santa Anita Oaks out west, then traveled to Churchill Downs and captured the Kentucky Oaks in commanding style. The big question after that was whether her connections would dare run her against the colts in the Belmont Stakes. After much thought, Pletcher and the owners decided to take the shot, and what followed was one of the most memorable Triple Crown finishes ever.
In the 2007 Belmont Stakes, Rachel Alexandra's future Horse of the Year rival Curlin came rolling at her in deep stretch and looked like he might run her down. But Rags To Riches dug in with John Velazquez urging her on, and the two horses battled head to head all the way to the wire. The filly stuck her neck in front at the very end to win by a head. She became the first filly to win the Belmont Stakes in 102 years, going back to Tanya in 1905, and the moment sent chills through the Belmont crowd of nearly 47,000.
Injuries sadly cut her career short after just one more start, but the honors were already there. Rags To Riches was named the 2007 Eclipse Award Champion 3-Year-Old Filly. She retired as a broodmare for Coolmore, joining the family of her dam Better Than Honour, who also produced 2006 Belmont winner Jazil and Belmont runner up Casino Drive. Rags To Riches is remembered as a true queen of the turf, a filly who beat the boys at the highest level and made history in the process.
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