Rags to Riches
(foaled February 27, 2004 in Kentucky) Is an American Thoroughbred filly racehorse. She was sired by 1992 U.S. Horse of the Year and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, A.P. Indy, who in turn was a son of 1977 U.S. Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. She was out of the mare Better Than Honour who is a daughter of Canadian Hall of Fame inductee and two-time North American Champion sire, Deputy Minister. Better Than Honour also produced the 2006 Belmont Stakes winner, Jazil.
Bred by Skara Glen Stables, Rags to Riches was purchased for US$1.9 million in September of 2005 at the Keeneland sale by the partnership of Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith. Sent to the track at age two under trainer Todd Pletcher, her first race was a short 4½ furlong sprint. She finished fourth, demonstrating that she needed longer distances to get up to speed.
Not brought back to competition until January of 2007, Rags to Riches won her first race at Santa Anita Park by six lengths. Ridden by Garrett Gomez, in February she won the 8 Furlong Las Virgenes Stakes despite being forced to run five wide for a good part of the race. In March she showed an explosive finishing kick to run away and win by 5½ lengths in the 1? mile Grade I Santa Anita Oaks. Made the betting favorite for the prestigious Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, she did not disappoint. Once again, Rags to Riches showed a powerful stretch drive in her 4¼ length win, easily pulling away from a field that included the 2006 U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Filly and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, Dreaming of Anna.
On June 5, 2007, the handlers for Rags to Riches announced she would run in the third and longest leg of the U.S. Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes. It will be her first start against males and marks her as the first filly in eight years to compete in the grueling 1½ mile race. A victory would make Rags to Riches only the third filly to ever win the Belmont and the first since Tanya claimed victory 102 years ago in 1905. Tanya's win came 38 years after Ruthless captured the 1867 running.
The Belmont
The fabulous filly outdueled Curlin in a breathtaking stretch run and won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, becoming the first of her sex to take the final leg of the Triple Crown in more than a century.
No one was happier with the victory than trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez, who both ended long droughts in Triple Crown races: Pletcher was 0-for-28, Velazquez 0-for-20.
The normally reserved Pletcher was screaming throughout the stretch run, one that had the fans at Belmont Park on their feet roaring as the two stars battled saddlecloth to saddlecloth to the wire.
Rags to Riches, despite a slight stumble at the start, became the third filly to capture the Belmont – Ruthless took the first running in 1867 and Tanya won in 1905. Only 22 fillies have tried the Belmont, with Rags to Riches the first since Silverbulletday finished seventh in 1999.
