Jayson Werth was noticeably absent from the small reunion of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2008 World Series team in London on Saturday. Let’s just say it was a scheduling conflict.
Worth was keen to watch his co-owner Dornoch beat 17-to-1 odds to win the 2024 Belmont Stakes. Dornoch took the lead early and battled hard with second-favorite She’s the Grey before the Preakness Stakes winner ran out of steam around the final corner.
With this win, Worth and his co-owners will receive $1.2 million in prize money.
After the race, an excited Worth was asked by Fox Sports how Dornoch’s win compared to his World Series win with the Phillies in 2008, and he answered in the affirmative.
“It’s as good as winning on the biggest stage. Horse racing is definitely the most underrated sport in the world. It’s the biggest sport – the Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont. We just won the Belmont. It’s the biggest feeling in horse racing and the biggest feeling in sports.”
How Jayson Werth became part owner of Dornoch
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Worth entered the horse racing world in 2021 while trying to fight a post-retirement malaise, with the purchase of Dornoch in 2022. The purchase was made at Keeneland’s September yearling sale in Kentucky, one of the industry’s largest auctions, but Worth told the Inquirer that he became involved in horse racing by chance.
“I was really lucky to be involved in this case. It’s a crazy story how I got involved in the Dornoch case,” Mr Worth said. “I went to the right side of the bar instead of the left, and I happened to buy the right guy a drink and started talking to him.”
The person reportedly told Worth that Dornoch is a brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and has a pedigree that includes 2008 Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown. He offered Worth a 10% stake in the horse, which sold for $325,000.
That investment paid off handsomely on Saturday, after Dornoch had placed 10th in the Kentucky Derby and sat out the Preakness Stakes.
Werth played 15 seasons in the MLB, most of them with the Phillies and Washington Nationals. He was one of the Most Valuable Players on Philadelphia’s 2008 World Series team, batting .273/.363/.498 and was an All-Star in 2009. A year later, he left the team as a free agent and signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Nationals.
Although his tenure with the Nationals was less successful, Werth played a key role in turning the team from a weakling NL East team into a perennial division contender, reaching the playoffs four times during his seven years with the team. Werth retired at the age of 38 when his contract expired in 2017.
