June 09, 2024
Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
Dornoch, the racehorse co-owned by former Phillies star Jayson Werth, won the Belmont Stakes. Above, Werth throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a 2022 NLCS game at Citizens Bank Park.
Jayson Werth was a key part of the Phillies' legendary World Series-winning team in 2008. About 16 years later, the former outfielder said his latest victory — in a totally different sport — is just as sweet.
The racehorse that Werth co-owns, Dornoch, won the Belmont Stakes — the last leg of the Triple Crown — on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.
When asked by FOX Sports how the Belmont Stakes win compares to winning the World Series, Werth said:
"I would put it right up there with winning at the biggest stage. Horse racing is the most underrated sport in the world, bar none. It's the biggest game, you've got the Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont. We just won the Belmont. This is as good as it gets in horse racing, it's as good as it gets in sports."
"Horse racing is the most underrated sport in the world, bar none... This is as good as it gets in horse racing; this is as good as it gets in sports."
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 8, 2024
World Champion Jayson Werth co-owns 2024 @BelmontStakes champion Dornoch! 🏆🐎 pic.twitter.com/vaXuR6G8OY
Dornoch previously finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby last month. Before the Derby, Werth said he "never stressed out" before baseball games, but felt like a "nervous wreck" before the horse race. Werth got into horse racing in 2021, four years after his MLB career ended.
Werth, who was with the Phillies from 2007-2010, hit 229 home runs and appeared in 63 postseason games throughout his career. He was also named an All-Star in 2009. But, his involvement in horse racing has given him a newfound excitement he never felt before.
"(I)t's an adrenaline rush like never before," Werth told MLB.com in May. "I compare it really to winning championships, to winning divisions, to winning postseason games. It is the most underrated sport on the planet, bar none."
Dornoch was considered a 17-1 underdog heading into the Belmont Stakes, but was able to hold off top contenders Mindframe and Sierra Leone after making the final turn. Werth did not try to hide his joy after the big win, jumping and cheering as he hugged his peers.
Watch Jayson Werth as our cameras captured him reacting in real time to Dornoch winning the @BelmontStakes!
— America'sBestRacing (@ABRLive) June 8, 2024
A 17-1 upset for jockey @luissaezpty and @GarganRacing. pic.twitter.com/jawJazwLGQ
If Werth wasn't busy watching his horse win one of the year's biggest races, he may have joined his former '08 Phillies teammates in London, where several of the team's stars traveled to cheer on the current Phillies roster as they take on the Mets abroad.
Watch the full Belmont Stakes race below:
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