Rags to Riches quickly became my favorite three-year-old Thoroughbred racehorse in early 2007, before her Santa Anita Oaks and Kentucky Oaks victories, and even longer before her triumph over Triple Crown nominated colts in the Belmont Stakes, which made her the first filly in 102 years to win the "Test of Champions". She was not simply my favorite filly. While the colts of her generation were not impressing yet and failed to provide a real hero, Rags was demonstrating an awesome determination to beat tough rivals, running them down with all of her might.

In February 2007's Grade 1 Las Virgenes, we watched Rags to Riches race wide throughout, coming into the lane five-wide and well beaten. Rags then charged towards the wire as if she absolutely could not let Baroness Thatcher get away with taking this race from her. The margin of victory for Rags to Riches would be only a quarter of a length, but it proved that no matter how beaten she looked, she would not give up, and she would give it everything she could muster to win. This filly was a hero.

I was disappointed she would not face the colts in the Santa Anita Derby and possibly the Kentucky Derby, but her connections proved they really did have the daring souls of real horse racing fans when they brought the Kentucky Oaks winner in to face the boys at the Belmont Stakes. What do I mean? I think everybody likes to see the impossible proven possible, and be reminded that it's worth a shot. As horse racing fans and horseplayers, we practice these lofty philosophies regularly. The most exciting races are when our own little hero beats the big guys; or even when our popular favorite does something even more heroic, like extending his winning streak against a very tough field... or maybe someday going for the Triple Crown.

In the 1 1/2 mile Belmont Stakes, Rags to Riches beat Preakness Stakes winner and eventual Horse of the Year Curlin by a nose. It was actually the first time I ever got to bet on her, and I won the superfecta (played like this: Rags, Curlin/Rags, Curlin/Tiago/Hard Spun). I was eager to back Rags to Riches previously in the Kentucky Oaks, but crashed out that Friday morning to catch up on some sleep. In the afternoon I somehow woke-up at the exact post time without having an alarm set. I ran to my computer, and by the time I got streaming video going, Rags was traveling around the final turn, knocking off rivals over a muddy track as the pouring rain pelted Churchill Downs.

I'm relieved to see Rags to Riches retired, and am not very disappointed she won't race at four. I'm relieved because I expected this injury to her right pastern to re-occur, and I'm just glad it was in training, not on the racetrack where she could have broke down tragically. I expected the injury to re-occur because of how damn hard she ran every time out. She lost her first race as a two-year-old and would never let it happen again. She didn't lose again until her first race after the Belmont, the Grade 1 Gazelle Stakes, and she suffered a hairline fracture to her pastern in that race.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said they would rather retire Rags to Riches than try to bring her back in the fall. I don't believe the instance of her retirement is that simplistic and unsympathetic though. What else would they do, wait 'til she injured her leg for a third time, in a race next fall? People who work with these horses usually speak in strictly professional terms when they make statements about their horses. It's easier to identify with the horses sometimes.

I've been getting Rags to Riches' workout updates sent to me from Equibase (her last workout was three furlongs in 38 seconds at Palm Beach Downs), and they often made me recall Invasor's career-ending injury. He didn't have a life-threatening injury, but it could have become something worse if he continued to race; and he had accomplished great things, and deserved to live out the rest of his life as a healthy horse in retirement. His fans deserved to see him go on to live a healthy life too.

Should Rags have been retired sooner? Sometimes I thought so. But, I never got the sense that her connections weren't letting her come back on her own to show them when she was ready to race again. I just thought she was too powerful to race on that leg without re-injuring it. If they had really forced her back to racing, then she would have broke down for sure. I don't blame them for giving Rags to Riches another chance to race, she was pretty damn good at it. But I'm glad to see they'll give that awesome filly a chance to live the rest of her life safe and sound.

Tags: Ragstoriches Horseracing Horse Racing Filly Belmontstakes Toddpletcher

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