Former major league baseball player Jayson Werth was clearly thinking about his current place in the sports world when he called a reporter last week to talk about the sport he loves. The conversation started with Shohei Ohtani's mind-blowing game 4 in the National League Championship Series.
“There are good games and great games, but what he did was absolutely incredible. We'll never see anything like it again,” Werth said.
Considering that Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays, both teams he played for were almost ready to start the World Series, you'd think it was front and center and in the back of his mind. But no, he has a new favorite sport.
His love of baseball was supplanted by the “Sport of Kings.”
“Wait, I need to place a bet on a horse, I’ll be back in two minutes,” Werth said after a yearling sale in Keeneland, Kentucky.
He returned a couple of minutes later, apologizing for suddenly interrupting the conversation.
“We caught him, he’s a Good Magic colt,” Werth said. “Good upbringing on both sides [the colt and mare]$110,000. It will go to the Icon Foundation.”
Icon Racing is the name of a new horse racing syndicate created by Werth. He gathered about 25-30 investors willing to put up $100,000 to take a chance on young horses with the dream of playing on the biggest stage, the Triple Crown. This is a partnership where investors currently don't have to pay more for things like training or veterinary services. Icon's other founders include media and technology executive Ian Ritchie, longtime baseball agent Jeff Berry and former MLB pitcher Sean Kelly.
Jayson Werth of the Philadelphia Phillies fires at teammates in the clubhouse as they celebrate their victory over the Colorado Rockies in Game 4 of the 2009 NLCS.
(Jack Dempsey/Associated Press)
Werth believes that the horse owner's experience is more important than the player's experience.
“I tell people that if you play professional sports, you do it on the field with your teammates and wave to your family and friends,” he said. “In horse racing, you do it with your family and friends. Whether you win or lose, you get to do it with the people you want to do it with. That's what makes this sport so amazing.”
Werth will be in Del Mar this weekend to compete in what's known as the World Series of Racing. Breeders' Cup. He has a horse in his first stable, Two Eight Racing, of which he is the majority owner. His jersey number was 28, and his horse is appropriately named Outfielder. He plans to perform Friday at the minors' stadium.
Werth had no intention of entering the world of horse racing. This was the result of playing golf with friends who owned thoroughbreds. He didn't think it would become his passion, but just a way to have fun with his friends.
Dornoch crosses the finish line with jockey Luis Saez to win the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes on June 8, 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York.
(Seth Wenig/Associated Press)
“I went to the races and didn’t know much about the sport,” Werth said. “I heard about Triple Crown And Kentucky Derbylike everyone else. But I went to the race and thought it was cool. And then I went to the races, I had a horse, and I said, “I got it.” That's it. That's what it's all about.”
“You're back on the team. You walk into the paddock, the trainer and the jockey come in, and you listen to the plans for the race. It's like a bunch. Go, team. The horses are there. The jockey gets on the horse, and bam, you think that horse is mine. I own part of that horse. It's like your teammate.”
There is an old saying: the three things you should never buy are an airplane, a restaurant, or a racehorse. Werth said he never received the note.
Werth primarily invested in mares until he met trainer Danny Gargan at the Keeneland sale.
“He told me I should try to ride the colt and make the Derby dream come true,” Werth said. “And that's where I got 10% of Dornoch. Over those two years, it really transformed and changed my life.”
Dornoch was able to advance to the Kentucky Derby field with victories in the Remsen at Aqueduct and Gulf Stream's Fountain of Youth.
Werth says he has never been nervous while playing sports, describing his temperament as stoic.
Former professional baseball player Jayson Werth attends Kentucky Derby 151 at Churchill Downs on May 3.
(Jeff Shear/Getty Images for Churchill Downs)
“I’m the complete opposite in racing,” he said. “It's like I'm having a mental breakdown. I'm a nervous wreck. I'm sweating. When Dornoch walked into the gates of the Kentucky Derby, I literally couldn't breathe. I was hyperventilating and almost passed out. I've never experienced anything like this in my life.”
Dornoch finished 10thth in a field of 20 horses at odds of 23-1. He never fought for the lead and ran mostly in the middle or behind.
Five weeks later, Dornoch entered the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown. The betting public didn't think much of him being sent off at 18-1 in a 10-horse game. He moved cautiously into the lead, taking the lead on the far turn, but then relinquished it before the stretch. just to rally and win the race.
“He had the second-longest throw in the field, so it felt like a punch in the gut because I felt like we had a horse that could win the Derby,” Werth said. “The next thing is something we don't even discuss with Belmont. Any time you come out as a huge underdog and win, you feel vindicated and inspired. You feel like you did something that no one thought you could do.”
Werth took his own baseball experience and tried to apply it to racing. When he was with the Phillies in 2007, general manager Pat Gillick called Werth in his office because the team had no choice and it looked like Werth would have to take a big step forward. He was plagued by injuries and an anemic bat. Gillick said simply and clearly that this was his last chance in professional baseball.
“So I went out there and hit about .420 in August and didn’t leave the field for 10 years.”
Werth had the same conversation with Dornoch, and judging by the result, the three-year-old colt understood everything.
“Two days before the Belmont, I walked into Dornoch's stall and said, 'This is it, this is your last chance at the race,'” recalls Werth. “If you don't do it now, your opportunity is lost.” He's a big evil dude. He's strong, he'll bite you. So I grabbed him by the reins, made this speech and tapped him on the nose. …And he went there and did it. It's such an amazing story.”
Jayson Werth (left) and a large group surround Dornoch's horse and jockey Luis Saez in the winner's circle at the Belmont Stakes on June 8, 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York.
(Julia Nihinson/Associated Press)
As for the future, Werth is still trying to figure it all out.
“We wanted to do it just for fun, and it was amazing,” Werth said. “I still don't know anything about the sport and I don't pretend to know anything about the sport. I'm just having a great time competing at the highest level. I love competing. I love every second of it.”
“As far as goals go, we're still trying to figure out what direction we're going in. People who are partners love being involved and it's an opportunity to own horses. I tell people with Dornoch that I owned 10% of the horse but had 100% of the fun. That's what we offer at Icon Racing.”
As for the Dodgers, for whom he pitched in the 2004-05 World Series?
“The Dodgers let me go, the Dodgers are hard to root for.”
