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For the second straight year, former Washington Nationals star Jayson Werth was a co-owner of a horse that competed in the Kentucky Derby. For the second straight year that horse failed to finish in the Top 3. Flying Mohawk , Werth’s horse, came in 18th in the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
, on Saturday, as the horse came in next-to-last in a 19-horse field. The only horse behind Flying Mohawk was Admire Daytona. Sovereignty won the race, followed by pre-race favorite Journalism and then Baeza.
Expectations were low for Werth’s horse at the Derby. The horse had not raced on dirt this season and had run its previous races on turf. Still, it allowed Werth to take in Churchill Downs for the second straight year as an owner.
Last year, his horse, Dornoch ran in the Kentucky Derby but finished in 10th place. But, later that season, Dornoch went on to win the Belmont Stakes, one of horse racing’s triple crown races. That was his first Triple Crown winner as a horse owner.
The same went for Dornoch’s trainer, Danny Gargan. The race also wasn’t held at Belmont, which is in Elmont, N.Y.
The track at Belmont is undergoing an extensive renovation. That race was at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
, on a 1.25-mile oval, shorter than Belmont’s 1.5-mile oval, which is the longest of the three triple crown races.
Werth caught the horse racing bug as a minor league player when he would make trips to Louisville and go to Churchill Downs between games. Werth spent the final seven seasons of his 15-year career with the Nationals, as he slashed .263/.
355/.433 with 109 home runs and 393 RBI. In two of those seasons, he finished in the Top 20 in National League MVP voting.
After his career concluded, he was inducted into the Washington Nationals ring of honor. Werth also played four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies , where he helped them win the 2008 World Series title. For his career he batted .
267 with 229 home runs and 799 RBI. Recommended Articles.
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