Girl, you have what it takes
ELMONT, N.Y. – Girlfriend, trite as it sounds, we just have to say: You go, filly. You won the Belmont Stakes.
On this historic day at Belmont Park, Rags to Riches put away 102 years of history when she held off Curlin by a head to win the 139th running of this American classic.
What an ending to this year’s Triple Crown season this turned out to be. Rags to Riches broke the Todd Pletcher jinx, giving the trainer his first Triple Crown victory in 29 attempts.
She also gave her jockey, John Velazquez, his first triumph in a Triple Crown race of Kentucky Derby, Preakness, or Belmont Stakes.
Most of all, she became the first filly since Tanya in 1905 to win this 1 1/2-mile race. To put her win in all its perspective, Rags to Riches is only the third filly to win this stakes in 22 such attempts.
It was the perfect ending to an extraordinary spring season:
“Street Sense broke a jinx when he became the first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Stakes champion to win the Kentucky Derby.
“Two weeks later in the Preakness, Curlin outdueled Street Sense to win by a head, setting up the Belmont as a showdown between the top three: Street Sense, Curlin, and Hard Spun.
Then Street Sense defected from the potential lineup for the Belmont. The showdown deflated like a balloon losing air.
It took girl power to turn this no-buzz Belmont Stakes into a jaw-dropping whopper of a race.
Rags to Riches, daughter of Belmont Stakes winner A.P. Indy, didn’t just scale the glass ceiling on Saturday. She stomped all over it.
She recovered from stumbling at the start. She overcame a slow pace in front of her. And then – trumpets, please – she spit in Curlin’s eye and outgamed him in a good old-fashioned, ding-dong battle through the homestretch.
And she wasn’t even the favorite. She was second choice to Preakness Stakes winner Curlin. But she ended the race first choice of nearly everyone in this Belmont crowd of 46,870. The applause she received at the winner’s circle was a show in itself.
People applauded her not just because she had accomplished something highly irregular, beating males in a top-level, Grade I classic. They applauded her all the more because she defeated the Preakness winner in a stirring duel to the finish.
“The reception was unbelievable,” Pletcher said.
Velazquez said he got goose bumps even before the race, when he realized how “pumped up about the filly” people were when they went through the saddling paddock and walking ring.
“People in the race, people are yelling and screaming,” the jockey said. “It was really a great thing to see the crowd enjoying the races.”
It’s precisely what makes this sport so intense, so gripping, and so surprising when the unexpected happens. Like a filly beating colts in the Belmont.
This might not have happened had not Pletcher and his longtime owners, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, rolled the dice. They said they would not have taken on the top three colts of this season had Street Sense gone in the Belmont.
The filly’s win might never have happened had she not recovered from her stumble as she broke from the gate.
Her nose went to her knees.
“My heart stopped,” Velazquez said.
The jockey recalled thinking in that fraction of time: “Please, don’t get hurt. Please, don’t pull a shoe off.”
Then Rags to Riches “got herself together” coming to the first turn, as Velazquez retold the story of their trip. She stayed on the outside, not using herself too much and avoiding the annoyance of having dirt slung in her face.
She followed Hard Spun most of the way. Coming to the top of the stretch, she moved to the front outside Hard Spun. Almost in sync with her, Curlin moved to the front inside of Hard Spun. Together, Curlin and Rags to Riches strained toward the finish less than a quarter-mile a head.
A Triple Crown season that began with three top colts now has a filly added to the mix. Go, girl. You’ll make this a year to remember, yet.