Former MLB star uses horse racing to take him back to his playing days

Photo Credit: Victor J. Blue/New York Times

During his playing days, Jayson Werth was known for his long hair, bushy beard, and charismatic personality. A 2008 World Series champion with the Philadelphia Phillies and a member of the Washington Nationals Ring of Honor, Werth was a fan favorite on and off the field. Since retiring in 2018, Werth has endeared himself to a new set of fans - Horse racing.

After a 15-year career that saw him hit 229 home runs and finish one run batted in shy of 800, Werth called it quits in the summer of 2018. The former 1997 first-round pick was looking forward to watching his sons’ baseball careers develop and focusing on his hobby of organic farming.

For many athletes, being away from the sport they dedicated their whole lives to can be difficult. Four years into retirement, Werth was itching for something that resembled his gameday routine and the feel of playing professional baseball, especially playoff baseball. That is when Werth found his love for horse racing.

“When you get away from competing, you forget what it’s like on gameday - walking out of the tunnel or coming out onto the field,” said Jayson Werth in a recent interview. “It’s a great outlet for anybody who has played sports at any level, and it [makes you] appreciate the gameday rush of horse racing.”

Three years after discovering his fondness for the sport, Werth found himself on the biggest stage - The Kentucky Derby.

Many fans were surprised to see the familiar long hair and beard of Werth at Churchill Downs last year. Werth owned a 10 percent stake in the horse Dornoch, who, despite high expectations, finished 10th in the 150th Run for the Roses. However, Dornoch would win the Belmont Stakes a month later, the third and final leg of the Triple Crown. This gave Werth his first major win in horse racing.

"It's tough to beat, man, it's an adrenaline rush like never before," Werth said. "I compare it really to winning championships, to winning divisions, to winning postseason games. It is the most underrated sport on the planet, bar none."

With the 2025 Kentucky Derby just a few days away, Werth once again has a horse running in the most historic equestrian event.

Flying Mohawk, trained by D. Whitworth Beckman, has two wins in six career starts and will be making his first start on a dirt track at the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby. Werth and his stable, Two Eight Racing, own 50 percent of Flying Mohawk. The name for Werth’s stable was inspired by his number 28, worn during the prime years of Werth’s baseball career. The horse’s ownership group also includes real estate developer Shawn Kaleta and San Francisco Giants Senior Advisor to the President of Baseball Operations, Jeff Berry.

“I know what I’m getting myself into this time,” Werth said. “Dornoch, I love that dude … He laid the blueprint down, and now we know what we’re doing. We know a lot more about the sport. It’s pretty cool to get another chance at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Werth used the year between Kentucky Derby appearances to invest more in horse racing. He launched Icon Racing, a horse racing community that aims to make the sport mainstream. The organization’s mission statement reads:

“Traditionally, horse racing has been viewed as an exclusive sport for the wealthy with high barriers to entry and many detailed requirements to navigate. The goal of Icon is to erase these barriers to entry and invite traditional sports fans into the ownership of horses in a way that allows them to simply follow their horses, attend races, and celebrate winning.”

There aren’t many requirements to become a member of Icon Racing, as long as ‘you’re here to have fun,’ Werth welcomes anyone. The organization’s inaugural partnership, named “Affirmed” after the 11th Triple Crown Winner in 1978, is a stable that has raised over $3 million and has 29 partners and eight horses.

Werth is also using his platform to help other former athletes, and even current players, get involved in horse racing. The 45-year-old isn’t the only star who has tried his hand at the sport. Also in baseball, Joe Torre, a former player and manager, four-time World Series champion, and current special assistant to the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, had numerous competitive horses involved in some of the sport’s biggest races. In basketball, 2025 AP College Basketball Coach of the Year Rick Pitino owned a horse in the 2013 Kentucky Derby, four-time NBA champion Tony Parker owns a racing stable in France, and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic owns a handful of successful horses across Europe.

“If you want to run at the top of the sport, you need to have numbers and deep pockets,” Werth said. “That’s what this sport needs is more people owning horses and not just betting on the horses. It’s like owning your own sports franchise with a connection to the horse that can’t be explained.”

While Flying Mohawk’s current 30-1 odds for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby aren’t as promising as his former horse Dornoch, Werth hopes that, just like baseball teams and players, Flying Mohawk gets hot at the right time.