Belmont Stakes Champion 2007 – Rags to Riches – Filly defeated Preakness Winner Curlin
It’s rare to see fillies winning races when they are stacked up against colts, who are always the favourite to win, which reduces their odds.
However, there have been fillies in history that against all odds were able to win something of significance and the recent one to do so was Rags to Riches, who won the Belmont stakes, back in 2007.
That particular win opened the door for fillies and ever since that exclusive win from Rags to Riches many fillies have competed against colts in big races. One of the famous wins of recent times, by a filly, was the Grade One Breeders Cup Classic by Zenyatta.
It was a move by trainer Todd Pletcher that nobody expected since he is not known for taking risks, especially in big races. The astonishment took greater heights when he had horses waiting in the wings that could rip a race course apart and gallop to the
wire.
The likes of Street Sense, a solid horse, who had many championships under his belt including the Grade One Kentucky Derby and also Curlin, who won the Preakness Stakes and going on to be the Horse of the Year twice.
When horses such as Street Sense and Hard Spun were ignored and given preference to Rags to Riches over them, some eye brows were raised but it seemed as if Todd Pletcher knew what everybody else did not and had faith in her ability and most of all her pedigree.
At the Belmont Stakes, Rags to Riches was up against the favourite of the race Curlin. John Velazquez was aboard the filly and right out of the gates she suffered a nasty stumble but took control of the situation and got back into the rhythm.
Curlin, who won the Preakness Stakes, was undoubtedly the favourite and the one to beat and no one in their wildest imagination thought that it would be a show down between the three year old filly Rag to Riches and Curlin.
Rags to Riches gave Curlin a run for his money and it got pretty exciting at the quarter pole when she came ahead to be head-to-head with Curlin. It was an intense competition between the best and the one fighting for respect, glory and for setting a new
trend.
It was a great race but at the back stretch it got on even terms but just before the wire Rags to Riches took the lead and won by a head.
Todd Pletcher was all praise for her champion filly after the race:
“I think you could argue that hers was the most impressive individual performance. And that says a lot, given that Zenyatta won the Breeders’ Cup and Rachel Alexandra won the Preakness and the Woodward. Rags to Riches did it against a really, really good
horse”.
Rags to Riches only raced once after that historic victory, in Grade One Gazelle Stakes. She ended her career with five wins and earned $1,342,528. It was a short but a promising career, in which, she showed the world her true mettle by making history in
the Triple Crown.
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