NEWS
Rags to Riches three-year-old filly champion
Posted: Monday, January 21, 2008 11:23 PM
2007 CHAMPION THREE-YEAR-OLD FEMALE RAGS TO RICHES (outside)
Adam Coglianese/NYRA photo
Rags to Riches shocked the world and rewrote history in 2007 en route to an Eclipse Award as champion three-year-old filly.
Thanks to the daring and sporting entry of the three-year-old A.P. Indy filly in the Belmont Stakes (G1) by trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, racing enjoyed a memorable day as the Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner outdueled Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1) winner and eventual Horse of the Year Curlin in the stretch to become the first filly to win the New York classic since Tanya in 1905.
The first filly to win a Triple Crown race since 1988 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Winning Colors, Rags to Riches certainly is a 21st Century female. While the renown of Winning Colors spread largely through television, newspapers, and magazines, a blog was devoted to the blaze-faced Rags to Riches. The Belmont win and her visually stunning Las Virgenes Stakes (G1) victory—after the widest of trips—also helped make her a hit on Youtube.com.
Pletcher, who earned outstanding trainer honors for the fourth straight year in 2007, perfectly handled Rags to Riches. After avoiding Derby fever, Pletcher waited for the Triple Crown’s final leg before allowing the half sister to 2006 Belmont winner Jazil face the boys.
The muscular chestnut filly failed to complete a perfect season when she finished second to Lear’s Princess in the Gazelle Stakes (G1) in September. Sidelined by a hairline fracture in her right front pastern, she missed the Breeders’ Cup World Championships but is expected to return this season.
