Catching Up With Rags to Riches

Rags to Riches in her field at Coolmore Ireland on April 9, 2015. (Photos courtesy of Coolmore unless otherwise noted.)
The early part of the 21st century in racing was owned by a broodmare named Better Than Honour with her most famous foal, a filly named Rags to Riches, leading the charge.
Bought for $1.9-million as a yearling, Rags to Riches made her debut just 2 ½ hours before her half-brother Jazil won the Belmont Stakes in 2006. Running in a race at 5 ½ furlongs, Rags to Riches wasn’t as lucky on her brother that day and finished fourth, 6 ¼ lengths behind the winner.
Rags to Riches, by 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, didn’t race again as a 2-year-old but was transferred to California to start her 3-year-old season. Racing two days after her brother made his 4-year-old debut, finishing second, Rags to Riches was the winner for the family this time when she broke her maiden by an easy six lengths. 
RAGS TO RICHES BREAKING HER MAIDEN

Video courtesy of Horse Racing
That maiden victory was the first of five straight wins for Rags to Riches. She jumped straight from her first career win into Grade 1 company, a leap that wasn’t too challenging for her as she beat graded stakes winner Baroness Thatcher by three-quarters of a length in the one-mile Las Virgenes.
Going longer a month later, Rags to Riches destroyed the opposition in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Anita Oaks by 5 ½ lengths under a hand ride for her second Grade 1 win in as many tries.
Regarded as the best 3-year-old filly in the nation going into the 2007 Kentucky Oaks, Rags to Riches went off as the 3-to-2 favorite. Regular jockey Garret Gomez placed Rags to Riches in about fifth during the early and middle stages of the race before asking her to move through a hole in front of her as they neared the end of the backstretch.
Rags to Riches was on the outside as she came up to the leaders in the stretch and racecaller Luke Kruytbosch got it right when he said “It’s all Rags to Riches, much the best here” as she pulled away to win by 4 1/4 lengths over second-place finisher Octave for owners Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith.
2007 KENTUCKY OAKS

Video courtesy of Vintage North American Horse Racing
For many fillies, winning the Kentucky Oaks is the victory of a lifetime, but that wasn’t the case for Rags to Riches. The connections took the ambitious route for her next start and put her in the Belmont Stakes against 3-year-old males.
The call for the race would become one of the most famous Belmont calls of all time. 
2007 BELMONT STAKES

Video courtesy of the New York Racing Association
Rags to Riches was at the back of a tight pack for most of the 1 ½-mile race with new jockey Johnny Velazquez. Approaching the stretch, both Preakness winner Curlin and Rags to Riches launched rallies and the two were head-and-head as they entered the stretch with Tom Durkin excitedly telling fans “a filly is in front at the Belmont but Curlin is right there with her.”
Rags to Riches pulled about a half-length ahead of Curlin with a little more than a furlong to go but Curlin fought back. Both horses ran their hearts out down to the finish line with Curlin coming back at the filly and Rags to Riches desperate for the wire.
Durkin’s call ended with the words Rags to Riches connections and fans wanted to hear, “it’s going to be very close, and it’s going to be … a filly in the Belmont! Rags to Riches has beaten Curlin and 100 years of Belmont history!”
Rags to Riches became the first filly to win the Belmont since 1905 and cinched the 3-year-old filly Eclipse Award with six months still to go in the season.
“We thought it was something the public would like to see,” Tabor told ESPN about running Rags to Riches in the Belmont. “It was a fantastic feat.”
RAGS TO RICHES AND CURLIN BATTLING DOWN TO THE WIRE

Photo courtesy of NYRA/Coglinese Photos
Rags to Riches was given the summer off after the Belmont and returned in September in the Gazelle Stakes. She finished second in the race as the 0.45-to-1 favorite, but following the race veterinarians discovered a hairline fracture to the right, front leg. Rags to Riches was expected to make it back to racing the following year.
Rags to Riches returned to Pletcher’s barn and put in two breezes in March of 2008, but when it was found that she had reinjured the leg, she was retired.
“It would have been too great a risk to continue with her, especially if she was not going to come back 100-percent,” Pletcher told the Daily Racing Form. “She has accomplished so much, she will go down in the history books as one of the best fillies ever to run, and it’s a sad day for racing and all of her fans.”
Rags to Riches ended her career as the 2007 champion 3-year-old filly with five wins and one second in seven starts for $1,342,528 in earnings.
RAGS TO RICHES IN RETIREMENT

A few weeks after she was retired, Rags to Riches was bred to Giant’s Causeway and produced a filly named Opulence on March 9, 2009. Opulence was in training with Todd Pletcher but never raced and currently has two foals on the ground, an unnamed yearling colt by Stay Thirsty and a foal born in early January by 2-year-old champion Shanghai Bobby. This year, Opulence is being bred to Declaration of War, who finished third in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup.
After being bred to Henrythenavigator, Rags to Riches was shipped to her owners’ farm in Ireland, where she foaled a colt named Admirer in 2010. Admirer made one start with trainer David Simcock in 2013 and finished off the board. 
Rags to Riches’ latest foal to hit the track is her first of four foals by Galileo. Named Rhett Butler, the now 4-year-old colt made his debut last September, when he finished off the board. But with only two of her foals to race, the Coolmore partners are still expecting that the mare will produce a successful son to carry on her line in the breeding shed. 
"As well as being brilliant on the track, Rags to Riches is from a strong stallion producing family, so we hope she will produce a good colt to continue that line. Being bred to Galileo, the best stallion in the world and, most recently, Australia, will give her every chance of succeeding," said David O'Loughlin, Coolmore Ireland's Director of Sales. 
Rags to Riches has three other Galileo foals, a 3-year-old colt with Andre Fabre named Rich And Righteous, an unnamed 2-year-old colt with Todd Pletcher and a yearling filly, her first filly since Opulence, born last May 19 in Ireland.
RAGS TO RICHES 2-YEAR-OLD COLT AT TODD PLETCHER'S BARN

Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
"Rags to Riches produces lovely stock, like herself; they’re big and scopey with lots of quality. She’s got a very nice yearling filly by Galileo here at Coolmore and her 2-year-old colt, also by Galileo, is with Todd Pletcher," O'Loughlin said.
The mare has settled into Ireland well and was bred to the farm's top sire Galileo from 2010 to 2013, but after not having a foal in 2015, she has been bred to Australia, a son of Galileo out of champion Ouija Board.
"Rags to Riches is doing great, she moved to Coolmore Ireland in 2009 and has settled into a lovely broodmare. Unfortunately she was barren last year but has just been covered by Epsom Derby winner Australia, who’s been very popular in his first year at stud," said O'Loughlin.
Rags to Riches still has quite the fan base in America but it doesn't stop there. She has won the barn staff over and definitely knows she's special, letting both the staff and other horses in the field know exactly who she is.
"She’s very popular here, too, and is a bit of an equine celebrity. Everyone knows what a special mare she was racing in America, and it’s a privilege to be involved with her on a daily basis. We’re very lucky to have her; mares like her don’t come along too often," O'Loughlin said. "Like a lot of the great racemares Rags can be quite bossy with lots of character and is definitely the dominant mare in the field!"
RAGS TO RICHES GRAZING IN HER PADDOCK

As for her dam’s success since Rags to Riches’ victory in the Belmont? The following year, Better Than Honour had another graded stakes winner when Casino Drive won the Peter Pan Stakes as a prep for the Belmont, but the colt had to skip the classic race.
Better Than Honour was back in the news for a win on a big day in 2009 when her son Man of Iron won the Breeders’ Cup Marathon. In 2013, Better Than Honour added to her résumé as the grandam of Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes winner Streaming.
For those involved with Rags to Riches, the hope is that she will put Better Than Honour’s name back in the news with a big winner in the near future.