HOME RUN
MLB fans just realizing World Series champ owns Belmont Stakes winner and claim he ‘looks like a country music singer’
Star has revealed how he got his big break
JAYSON Werth's move into horse racing has paid off in a big way.
After finishing tenth in the Kentucky Derby, his prized horse Dornoch won the Belmont Stakes.
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Some fans were left rubbing their eyes after seeing him in the winners' circle.
While others had a few wise cracks about his new look.
"Looks like a country music singer," posted one on X.
"Thought this was Jared Leto for a second," added another.
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"Not for nothing I thought that was Kid Rock," a third said.
Werth spent 15 years in MLB and retired in 2018.
Prior to last month's derby he said he was usually a "nervous wreck" before a race, per MLB.com
The 2008 World Series champion, 45, earned $141 million during his baseball career.
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He has taken a financial stake in a number of horses under the banner Two Eight Racing LLC.
The name pays homage to the No. 28 jersey he wore during his career with the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Dornoch is the best of the bunch and pushed his career earnings to over $500,000 with the Stakes victory.
Werth says horse racing has filled the competitive void in his life after he retired from baseball in 2017.
“Horse racing picked up where baseball left off. It's a great industry for me to be in," he told Thoroughbred Daily News.
"Professional baseball, when you do it for 22 years, it takes over your whole life.
"My wife has a sign in the kitchen that says 'We interrupt this family for baseball season.'
Five key MLB rule changes in 2024
1. The pitch clock is reduced from 20 to 18 seconds with runners on base. It will remain at 15 seconds with bases empty.
2. When a pitching change is made, the innings timer will reset to 2:00 rather than 2:15 like it did last year.
3. Teams will only be allowed four mound visits per game in 2024, down from five last season.
4. Fielders and defenders blocking bases will be called for obstruction by referees.
5. The runners' lane from home plate to first base has been widened to include the dirt between the grass and the white line.
"Then it's over and you think, 'What do I do now?'"
Werth has been into horses for decades.
"When I was a kid, I worked on a horse farm near my house in Springfield [Illinois]," he told America's Best Racing.
"I made friends with the owner and he would let me hang out there. I was fascinated by these mythological creatures from a young age.
"I live in the Tampa Bay area now and I was playing golf.
"I would come in after golf and they would turn the horse races on.
"Guys would watch and make bets. I was like, ‘What do you guys have going on here? I’m really interested.’
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"I started playing golf with (Thoroughbred owner) Rich Averill and got to know him a little bit and he got me going in horse racing.
"If it wasn’t for him, I might still not have found a way in."