'Rags' Enriched All the Lucky People in Her Orbit

There are plenty of racing memories for which to be thankful, especially on this weekend dedicated to public gestures of gratitude. Among them is the privilege to have witnessed the filly named Rags to Riches in action, if only for a brief flash across the landscape in a seven-race career that resonates to this day. As if a reminder was needed, Rags to Riches died Nov. 24 at the age of 21 at Ashford Stud in Kentucky, where she had lived since her return from Coolmore's Ireland base in 2015. Praise flowed from all quarters, including her Coolmore ownership, trainer Todd Pletcher, and jockey John Velazquez, who was aboard for her landmark victory in the 2007 Belmont Stakes (G1), in which she defeated eventual two-time Horse of the Year Curlin. There were other players in the Rags to Riches drama as well, including Brice Blanc, who rode the filly in her debut as a 2-year-old at Churchill Downs in June of 2006. "I was riding a little bit for Todd, while Michael McCarthy was his assistant in Kentucky," said Blanc, who won more than 1,000 races before retiring to a role as a California racing official. "Rags to Riches was one of a few that I worked regularly. "Going just 5 1/2 furlongs, she finished fourth and came flying," Blanc said. "Pulling up, she was in front a furlong after the wire. You could tell she was very talented, but you also could tell she was not quite put together yet, and there was a lot of room for development. "I was back in California when she started running there as a 3-year-old for Michael," Blanc added. "I made sure to let him know I was available." The 2007 season dawned with Pletcher sidelined while serving a suspension. That put the pressure on McCarthy, whose name was linked to Rags to Riches for her Jan. 7 maiden win at Santa Anita Park, and her astounding victory in the Las Virgenes Stakes (G1) Feb. 10, in which the blaze-faced daughter of A.P. Indy was parked five wide on both turns and still won by three-quarters of a length. McCarthy was just glad Rags to Riches was in California at all. She went to the sidelines after her debut and could just as easily have gone to Pletcher's Florida stable. "I certainly held my breath, hoping she would come to California," McCarthy said. "I think the fact that we were training on a synthetic surface at Hollywood Park at the time had something to do with it. Coolmore liked that idea, even though she would be running on dirt at Santa Anita. "Funny thing was, she didn't train on the synthetics the way she ran on dirt," the trainer noted. "There were a couple of works at Hollywood where she just seemed to go through the motions. But the way she ran on the dirt told us that she was getting fit enough." By then, Garrett Gomez was riding Rags to Riches—sorry Brice—and the sky seemed to be the limit. With Pletcher's name back on the program, the filly won the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) by 5 1/2 lengths, then ventured to Churchill Downs to win the Kentucky Oaks (G1) by 4 1/4 lengths, each time extending the margin as the wire approached. The message she was sending was crystal clear: Bring on the Belmont Stakes and its mile and one-half. "The day of the Belmont, I told everybody in the room at Hollywood Park that she would beat the boys," Blanc said. "I don't know if they believed me or not, but of that I was certain." Gomez, however, chose to ride Hard Spun, the Danzig colt who finished second in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and third in the Preakness Stakes (G1). Pletcher was quick to fill the filly's saddle with John Velazquez, who had chased Rags to Riches in the Kentucky Oaks aboard runner-up Octave. "I really thought that if there were ever a horse and rider made for each other, it was Garrett and the filly," McCarthy said. "But then, fast forward five weeks from the Kentucky Oaks to the Belmont, it seemed like John Velazquez and Rags to Riches were meant for each other that day. "I remember sitting in our office at Churchill Downs that day, no one else there," McCarthy said. "At no point did it look like she was going to get beat. She stumbles, goes wide around the first turn. But when you see her traveling up the backside, sitting third or fourth, she always looked like she was in hand." She beat Curlin by a head, doing something a filly had not done for 102 years. Rags to Riches already had set up permanent residence in the hearts of even the most cynical racing fans. After the Belmont, she belonged to history. "Being around her was a great experience," McCarthy said. "She took everyone who had anything to do with her to the next level." McCarthy, who opened his own public stable in 2014, has reached a new level of his own in 2025. Going into the Thanksgiving weekend, his horses had earned $10.1 million, well clear of his personal best of $6.9 million recorded in 2021. McCarthy had eight runners spread across six graded stakes on offer at Del Mar Nov. 28-30, including two in the Hollywood Derby (G1T) and the winning Spicybug in the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes (G1T). McCarthy won the Hollywood Derby in 2024 with William Warren, Jr.'s Formidable Man, last seen finishing second to Notable Speech (GB) in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T). The trainer confirmed that the son of City of Light will have a 5-year-old campaign in 2026 as soon as he returns from a little R&R at Peacefield Farm, near Temecula, Calif. Journalism, who accounted for nearly $4.2 million of the McCarthy stable total this year, is at Bridlewood Farm in Florida, soon to be back in California. The son of Curlin won the Preakness, Haskell Stakes (G1), and Santa Anita Derby (G1) in 2025, while finishing second to likely Horse of the Year Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. "He's being ridden under tack every day, then he goes out for a graze in the afternoons," McCarthy said. "I would think we'd be looking at January for him to return to the barn." He was talking about Santa Anita, where one of the walls of the McCarthy stable office is adorned with a picture of Rags to Riches.