Rags to Riches retired

Rags to Riches, first filly in more than a century to win the Belmont Stakes and champion three-year-old filly of 2007, will be retired to Ashford Stud where she will be bred to leading sire Giant’s Causeway.

Her historic victory over eventual Horse of the Year Curlin in a breathtaking stretch battle may have ultimately been her undoing. After health related setbacks that kept her out of competition during the last summer, she suffered a hairline fracture to her right front pastern during the running of the Grade l, $250,000 Gazelle Stakes at Belmont Park in September. She returned to trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn at Palm Beach Downs earlier this year where she resumed training.

“She has re-injured her right front pastern and because of the timing, the decision was made to retire her as opposed to trying to bring her back in the fall,” Pletcher said from Palm Beach Downs. “It’s a sad day for racing and all of her fans. She will go down in the history books as one of the best fillies ever to run. With the tremendous family that she comes from, she should make a terrific broodmare. We are excited for her and the prospects that lie ahead.”

The Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith owned filly will leave Palm Beach Downs today and travel to Ashford Stud, in Versailles, Ky., where she will be bred to the Tabor and John Magnier-owned Giant’s Causeway. “She is a lovely mare and we feel she will cross with him very well,” said Tabor.