Jayson Werth Hits It Out of the Park with Dornoch

Plagued by injuries and getting up there in age, Jayson Werth announced his retirement from baseball on June 28, 2018. He finished with 229 career home runs, was an All-Star in 2009 and won a World Series in 2008 with the Philadelphia Phillies. It had been a great run, but when it was over Werth wasn't exactly ready to move on. He never lost the feelings that baseball gave him, the excitement, the ups and downs, the camaraderie with his teammates and the pride that comes with knowing that you have succeeded at the highest level.

There was golf but he needed something else. And in horse racing Jayson Werth has found exactly what he was looking for. Running under the name of Two Eight Racing (Werth wore number 28 during his playing days), the 44-year-old native of Springfield, Illinois has enjoyed remarkable early success. Involved in the sport only since 2021, Werth could be on his way to the GI Kentucky Derby. He is the co-owner of Dornoch (Good Magic), the winner of the GII Fountain of Youth S., as well as recent maiden winner Drip (Good Magic), who will be out to pick up Derby points in this Saturday's GII Tampa Bay Derby. Then there's R Calli Kim (Revolutionary), who won the GIII Very One S., which was part of the Fountain of Youth card.

“On some level, horse racing has filled a really large void in my life that has been created by my retiring from baseball,” he said. “Horse racing picked up where baseball left off. Its's a great industry for me to be in. Professional baseball, when you do it for 22 years, it takes over your whole life. My wife has a sign in the kitchen that says 'We interrupt this family for baseball season.' Then it's over and you think 'what do I do now?'

Werth lived near a Standardbred farm when he was growing up and befriended the owner and helped out with the horses, something that he enjoyed. But his family moved when he was 13 and Werth would soon be immersed in baseball. He didn't have time for anything else.

He soon found out that the passion he had for horses when he was young had never disappeared. Werth began playing golf with Richard Averill, who runs under the name of Averill Racing, and the owner introduced him to Thoroughbred racing.

Dornoch after winning the Fountain of Youth | Ryan Thompson

“I started picking Richard's brain and then partnered with him on some horses,” Werth said. “Racing became a passion and a love really fast for me. It started out with me thinking this is fun, let's claim this horse for $8,000. But I found out that's like playing in the minor leagues. It's not where you want to be.”

When asked to compare the feeling of winning a big race like the Fountain of Youth with his accomplishments in baseball, Werth said the biggest difference is that when it comes to racing he is a nervous wreck.

“I never got nervous playing sports,” he said. “Even before big games, the morning of, the day of, I never felt pressure or nervous. I was very comfortable, very calm. Horse racing has been the exact opposite. I get sick to my stomach before a race. I'm experiencing emotions I never knew existed. The winning and losing when it comes to racing is very comparable to winning in the divisional series, winning in the World Series. Having success or failure in racing, that feels very familiar to me. It's the lead-up into the race that gives me panic attacks.”

Dornoch may be his best horse, but he is most passionate about R Calli Kim. After a 55-week layoff, she came back in July and won a $35,000 claimer at Saratoga. That began a four-race win streak that included a victory in the GIII Long Island S. After finishing second in the GIII La Prevoyante S. she returned to the winner's circle in the The Very One.

“She got hurt and then didn't run for a whole year,” he said. “We thought she was done racing and then all of a sudden, she was doing really well and we sent her back to (trainer) Brendan (Walsh) and she has won six of seven. She's such a great horse, so sweet and nice. After my wife, she's my favorite girl in the whole world.”

Werth has been in the sport for just a little over three years and already has a GII Remsen S. winner, a Fountain of Youth winner and could have two horses in this year's Kentucky Derby. The game is supposed to be a lot tougher than that. Werth gets that.

“I've been in the right place at the right time,” he said. “Here we are, just a couple of years into it, and we are having unbelievable luck and success. I'm torn. Yes, I love horse racing but if we tried to do this again I don't know if we'd be this lucky or have a chance of doing some of the stuff we are doing. We're enjoying the fruits of our success. It's been such a great run and we're having a lot of fun with it. It's hard to believe and I tell people that. I could do this for the rest of my life and invest $10 million a year and not be in this position. It's storybook stuff and I am cherishing every second of this. I can guarantee you that isn't lost on me.”

Dornoch, the full brother to 2023 Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), did his job in the Fountain of Youth, but the race became a lot easier Speak Easy (Constitution), Victory Avenue (Arrogate), Merit (Mastery) and Locked (Gun Runner) were all scratched.

“I would not discount Dornoch on any level just because those horses weren't in there,” Werth said. “If they were, I think we would have seen the same result.”

Dornoch will go next in either the GI Florida Derby or the GI Blue Grass S. Trainer Danny Gargan has yet to decide. The Derby, of course, is the main goal. It's the toughest race in the world to win, but one of his owners has one of the hottest hands in the sport. He has that going for him.

“I understand why people spend millions of dollars on chasing this dream,” Werth said. “That's exactly what it is, a dream. What's happening, I think it is incredible.”

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Falcone Giving Maiden Beauty Short Break After Quick Turnaround Win

Trainer Robert Falcone Jr. continued his hot streak when John Grossi's Racing Corp.'s Maiden Beauty notched a gate-to-wire victory off 11 days' rest in the $100,000 Bay Ridge on December 30 at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Falcone has hit the board with nine of his last 10 starters dating back to December 11 at the Big A, posting a record of 4-3-2, including a pair of wins with Maiden Beauty along with scores by Hoopla and Castle Chaos.

The 28-year-old conditioner said he has the one-mile $100,000 Biogio's Rose for older New York-bred fillies and mares on March 6 at the Big A in mind for Maiden Beauty.

The 6-year-old Revolutionary bay mare was claimed by Falcone for $45,000 in June and made her first start for new connections when second in the restricted Saratoga Dew on August 12 at Saratoga. She arrived at the nine-furlong Bay Ridge off a one-turn mile allowance optional claiming win on December 19 at Aqueduct.

Falcone admitted some concern with the quick turnaround.

“It's always concerning, especially when you consider her past performances before I had her,” Falcone said. “She had never run back that quickly, but as long as they're eating up and doing well, which she was, you've got to take a shot sometimes. Even though it was quick back, she came out of the race really well.”

Falcone said the option of remaining around one turn at seven furlongs in today's La Verdad was possible but that the mare's front-running style suited the Bay Ridge. Six of Maiden Beauty's nine lifetime wins were captured when leading at every point of call, including her last four victories.

“There's a lot that goes into picking your spots, especially stakes,” Falcone said. “We had talked about it. When she gets to the lead, she gets so brave. We figured we had an easier time going a mile and an eighth, than seven eighths so that was a big factor.”

Because of the quick turnaround, Falcone said he will go easy on Maiden Beauty for the time being.

“I'll let her tell me,” Falcone said. “She ran quick back, so she'll get some time in between. Our main goal would be the Biogio's Rose from here, but she could run in February if it's the right time.”

Falcone spoke volumes of owner John Grossi, complimenting his knowledge and understanding of the sport of horse racing.

“He's one of those owners that knows and understands the game. He's intelligent and supports the game very heavily,” Falcone said. “He breeds some of his own horses, he claims horses. We went to California last year and he was game to do that. He's easy to work with and understands the whole game. He's a great guy, he brings his granddaughter around the barn and she loves it. It's great to see young people getting involved.”

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Maiden Beauty Scores Fifth Win Of 2021 In Thursday’s Bay Ridge

John Grossi's Racing Corp.'s Maiden Beauty rounded out a five-win year with a gate-to-wire conquest in Thursday's $100,000 Bay Ridge for New York-bred fillies and mares going nine furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 5-year-old Revolutionary bay mirrored her last winning effort from 11 days ago, where she defeated open company at a one-turn mile at Aqueduct.

Despite the short rest, Maiden Beauty still displayed winning ways with Kendrick Carmouche aboard for the fourth straight time.

“She came back out of the race really good,” trainer Robert Falcone, Jr. said. “The way she ran, that's how she acts around the barn – she's laid back and relaxed, but once she gets the lead just goes around there. That's how she acts. She wasn't blowing after that race, cooling out. She actually had more energy than she usually does the next few days when we took her back into training. We knew this race was coming up light and we decided to take a shot.”

Maiden Beauty broke sharp from post 2, leading the five-horse field through opening fractions of 24.74 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 49.76 for the half-mile with stakes-winner Ice Princess tracking to her outside in second.

Around the far turn, Jose Lezcano started to get busy aboard Ice Princess while Carmouche remained patient. In upper stretch, Carmouche asked his filly for more run with Ice Princess looming to her outside. Maiden Beauty never relinquished in the stretch drive, crossing the wire a 3 ¾-length winner in a final time of 1:51.76 over the sloppy and sealed main track.

Ice Princess finished three-quarter lengths to the better of third-place finisher Sharp Star. Byhubbyhellomoney and Amity Island completed the order of finish.

Maiden Beauty scored her first stakes triumph since taking the Lynbrook at Belmont Park in July 2018 in her career debut when trained by Gary Contessa.

This year proved to be Maiden Beauty's most successful season in racing, sporting a consistent ledger of 10-5-3-1, which included a second-place finish in the Saratoga Dew in August at the Spa. She now brags an overall record of 35-9-6-4 with a bankroll of $628,912.

Maiden Beauty returned $8.60 for a $2 win wager as the third choice in the field.

“That filly always runs one way for me – she runs really good on the lead,” Carmouche said. “The question today was going to be the mile and an eighth coming back so quick, but with a short field I pretty much dominated the race from the beginning. She did most of the work. She ran awesome. I'm just glad she got to repeat that effort off of the flat mile race [on December 19]. Rob brought her into the race good and I'm very happy that we went in this spot and made us all a winner before the first of the year.”

Falcone, Jr. tipped his hat to owner John Grossi, and said he had considered waiting a few more days to race Maiden Beauty in Sunday's seven-furlong $100,000 La Verdad for New York-bred fillies and mares.

“John Grossi is a really great owner. I said we could run in this race after she came back good, but she may not run until February after this. I don't like running horses back that quick, usually,” Falcone, Jr. said. “He's an amazing owner and I'm happy he won this race. He puts money into the game. He breeds horses. He has horses in Florida and he sent horses out to California last year. He's into claiming and a really good guy for the game to have. I'm happy to win a stakes with him.

“We were thinking about the La Verdad as well, but she's just completely different on the lead,” Falcone, Jr. added. “It's just that simple with her. If you look at her past performances – and now you can add this one on – the last five times she won, she's on the lead.”

Bred in New York by Sandy Glenn Stables, Maiden Beauty is out of the Eddington mare Alpha Charlie.

Live racing resumes on December 31 at the Big A with an eight-race program, featuring the $100,000 Alex M. Robb [Race 7, 3:36 p.m.] for New York-bred 3-year-olds and upward travelling nine furlongs over the main track. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Birthday ‘Wishes’ Come True For Meg Levy

Meg Levy can't remember how she heard about the $500 Thoroughbred mare needing a home in February of 2017, but she's incredibly glad she decided to go see “Four Wishes” on the way to the Fasig-Tipton sale that afternoon.

The daughter of More Than Ready had been abandoned by a previous owner after running up a board bill. She had a Revolutionary foal on the ground and was in foal to the same sire, as well, but Four Wishes wasn't likely to be particularly commercial – the mare's catalog page was not inspiring, and she'd raced five times without ever finishing better than sixth.

It was Levy's birthday, though, and something told the founding owner of the Bluewater Sales consignment agency to bring the mare home. Three and a half years later, the $500 rescue mare has turned into a fairy tale success: Four Wishes' Laoban filly, Simply Ravishing, won the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland on Oct. 2.

“You just can't make it up, truly, we all need a good story right now,” Levy said. “I was lucky enough to be there when she crossed the finish line! Keeneland is kind of strange and spooky without people there, but you can move around so freely and be really close to the racetrack, and we kind of ran with her to the wire.

“Four Wishes really had all the negatives: she couldn't run a jump, and they always say never buy a mare with two blank dams, well, she had them. … It sounds kind of cheesy when I tell the story, but we'd never had anything happen like that for ourselves.”

After purchasing Four Wishes in February of 2017, Levy sent the mare to Stone Gate Farm in New York in the hopes of making her Revolutionary foal somewhat commercially viable. After the mare foaled a colt that April, Levy decided to send her to first-year sire Laoban on her husband's breeding right.

Four Wishes and her colt came home to Kentucky in the summer, and the following April her Laoban filly was born in the New York.

Levy's son, Ryder, saw the filly first. He sent his mother a text message with a photograph of the filly out in the field.

“Looks like a bunch of early breeders awards to me,” he wrote.

Those words proved prophetic down the road, but there were more bumps in the road before Simply Ravishing's long-predicted success.

Four Wishes' Revolutionary colt was not accepted to the New York-bred sale and brought a final bid of just $8,000 when sold at Fasig-Tipton October in 2018. He wound up headed to Peru, and Levy doesn't know whether the now 3-year-old has yet raced.

Four Wishes was bred to Daaher next, also on a breeding right, but she suffered a dystocia due to the foal's large size, and sadly that foal did not survive. The mare was badly bruised, Levy said, and was given a year off from the breeding shed to recover.

All that happened shortly before Levy was preparing to send Four Wishes' Laoban filly to the 2019 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale.

“Laoban foals were really selling well, and they were all pretty athletic looking,” Levy remembered. “I was already at the sale, and the crew at the farm was loading the horses on the trailer to ship them up to me. They sent me a text, as people sending me bad news tend to do, that once she got on the trailer she really wasn't happy and kicked the wall so hard she tore up her hind foot.

“She was going to be just fine, but obviously she had to get off the van and couldn't go to the sale. I was really disappointed and admittedly pretty grumpy about it.”

Levy re-entered the filly in the Fasig-Tipton October sale, and hoped that her impressive physical would be enough to draw the right kind of attention.

“As she was growing up, she just was so simple,” Levy said. “She was always stunning, always in motion, always the right weight, always shiny, always correct. There was none of this messing around business with awkward stages; she just stood out.”

Though she lacked a commercially attractive pedigree, the filly's good looks were enough to draw the attention of trainer Ken McPeek. His final bid of $50,000 was enough to land the filly.

“She was just the kind of filly Kenny likes, real athletic-looking,” Levy said. “He doesn't care about the page so much, and I knew he'd give her every chance.”

Levy had known McPeek since the time she had galloped for John Ward, and then worked with him at 505 Farm. When Levy first opened her consignment business in 1999, McPeek was one of her first successful customers.

Oddly enough, it was with another filly who had two blank dams on her catalog page. This filly had trouble passing the veterinary inspection; of 12 vets who scoped her airway, only McPeek's vet gave the filly a passing grade.

McPeek landed the daughter of Dehere for $175,000 at the 2000 Fasig-Tipton July sale, and the following year Take Charge Lady won Keeneland's Alcibiades.

Take Charge Lady had great success on the track, winning a total of five Grade 1 races and $2.4 million, and she went on to immeasurable success as Broodmare of the Year and dam of two Grade 1 winners, Take Charge Indy and champion Will Take Charge.

The similarities between the two fillies' storylines are the kind of thing that just can't be made up, Levy said, laughing. She remembered attending the 2001 Alcibiades and cheering Take Charge Lady to victory.

“I knew so little [about industry protocols] back then,” said Levy. “I ran across the rail to get to the winner's circle for the photo, and I'm sure everybody in there was like, 'Who is this girl?'”

A more seasoned veteran now, Levy was still emotional after Simply Ravishing's big win in the Alcibiades. Her son Ryder, now 29, had been such a huge fan of the filly's from the very beginning, and he'd surprised his mother by asking the farm manager to name Levy the sole breeder for the first time in her career.

McPeek stayed in touch about the filly through her early training, sending videos of Simply Ravishing's progress ahead of her first start.

“I thought, 'Well, she looks pretty good,'” Levy recalled. “I had taken our farm manager to brunch on that Sunday that she ran for the first time, and I missed her race and then my phone just started blowing up when she broke her maiden at Saratoga.”

After her maiden victory on the turf, McPeek stepped Simply Ravishing up to New York-bred stakes company. The race came off the grass, and the filly won by several lengths.

“I thought, 'Wow, this is pretty crazy,'” Levy said. “When he entered her in the Alcibiades, though, I thought, 'Hmm, could this really happen?'”

Apparently, Wishes do come true.

Simply Ravishing winning the Darley Alcibiades

Simply Ravishing won the Alcibiades by 6 1/4 lengths, completely dominating the competition in an impressive gate-to-wire performance. She's likely to be one of the favorites in the upcoming Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 6 at Keeneland.

“After this filly won, I actually ran into the guy who'd had Four Wishes at a reining show,” Levy said. “I tried to ask him about her first filly, by Revolutionary, but I guess he sold her as a riding horse prospect and didn't remember much more than that.”

Levy posted a snapshot of Four Wishes' story on social media following the Alcibiades win, and has enjoyed the excited reaction of so many of her friends. One major Kentucky breeder even told Levy's husband that after learning about the story, he went out and rescued a mare himself.

Four Wishes was bred to Speightster for 2021, and Levy is excited to see what the future will bring with her miracle mare. The entire story reminds Levy of a conversation she had with breeder Helen Alexander when she first got into the business.

“I remember asking her to lunch years ago, because she was someone I've always respected from the very beginning,” Levy said. “I asked if I could pick her brain, said, 'I'm trying to find my way and I really need some advice.' She just kind of said, basically, 'Breed your mares well, take care of them well, and they'll take care of you.' She actually called to congratulate me after Simply Ravishing won!”

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