Jayson Werth was noticeably absent from a small reunion of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2008 World Series team in London on Saturday. Let’s say he had a scheduling conflict.
Werth was busy watching Dornoch, a horse he co-owns, break the 17-to-1 odds to win the 2024 Belmont Stakes. Dornoch moved to the front early and battled fellow favorite Seize the Gray until the Preakness Stakes winner disappeared after the final turn.
The win earns Werth and his co-owners $1.2 million in prize money.
You can watch Werth from his box to victory here:
An ecstatic Werth was asked after the race by Fox Sports how Dornoch’s victory compared to winning a World Series with the Phillies in 2008. He responded affirmatively:
“I would put it right on the same level as winning on the biggest stage. Horse racing is the most underrated sport in the world, bar none. It’s the biggest game, you have the Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont. We have just won the Belmont This is as good as it gets in horse racing, this is as good as it gets in sports.”
How Jayson Werth became co-owner of Dornoch
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Werth got into horse racing in 2021 while trying to combat a post-retirement slump and ultimately purchased Dornoch in 2022. The purchase was made during Keeneland’s September yearling auction in Kentucky, one of the largest auctions in the industry, but Werth told the investigator that his involvement came about by accident:
“I’m extremely lucky to be involved, and how I ended up in Dornoch is a crazy story,” Werth said. “I went to the right side of the bar instead of the left side of the bar. I happened to buy the right guy a drink and started talking to him.
That person reportedly told Werth that Dornoch is the brother of 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and has a pedigree that includes 2008 Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown. He offered Werth a 10% stake in a horse that sold for $325,000.
That investment more than paid for itself on Saturday. Before that, Dornoch finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby and sat out the Preakness Stakes.
Werth played 15 seasons in the MLB, mainly with the Phillies and Washington Nationals. He was among the most valuable players on Philadelphia’s 2008 World Series team, hitting .273/.363/.498 and earning All-Star honors in 2009. A year later, he left the team in free agency for the Nationals at the age of seven. year, $126 million contract.
Although his tenure with the Nationals was not as successful, Werth was instrumental in the team’s rise from NL East doormat to perennial division contender, reaching the playoffs four times in his seven years with the team. He retired in 2017 at the age of 38, when his contract expired.
