Jayson Werth's love of horse racing after baseball has led him to the Kentucky Derby

Jayson Werth got to Churchill Downs in the middle of Kentucky Derby week and was overcome by a familiar feeling.

“It has some fragrance of the World Series,” he said. “Things are totally different now. We’re at the barns, roads are blocked off, there’s security everywhere. It’s definitely heightened, and you get the sense, ‘This is it, this is the highest level of the sport.’”

Werth won the World Series with Philadelphia and played 63 playoff games during his major league career with the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Phillies and Nationals, and still nothing compares with the adrenaline rush of his new favorite sport. The retired outfielder has shares of more than a dozen thoroughbreds, and on Saturday has the chance to become a Kentucky Derby-winning owner with Dornoch running in the 150th running of the famous race.

“It’s surreal: We kind of got into this as a hobby, and it’s turned into a passion," Werth told The Associated Press by phone. “I’ve got a passion for the sport like I would’ve never thought, and I want to share it with the world."

Werth has used horse racing to fill the competitive void baseball once did, a few years after learning about the sport from golfing buddy Rich Averill, who has been involved in the industry for decades.

Having a prominent athlete espousing his love for horse racing certainly doesn't hurt as work is ongoing to bring in new fans.

“The connection between racing and professional sports has always been strong, going all the way back to Babe Ruth, who loved to bet the horses,” said NBC Sports analyst Randy Moss, who is working his 44th Derby this weekend. “Especially when an athlete like Jayson Werth buys into a few horses and actually makes it into the Derby.”

Werth thinks regular people owning racehorses — even micro shares like 2023 Derby winner Mage, a full brother of Dornoch — is a way into the sport that has historically had a high barrier of entry because of costs. He describes watching a race now like being in the dugout with a teammate trying to round the bases to score and win a game.

Werth, whose stable Two Eight Racing is a nod to his jersey No. 28 with the Dodgers, Phillies and Nationals, is looking into starting an ownership collective to “do something on a much larger scale in horse racing.” Werth has 10% of Dornoch and similar percentages of other horses.

But first, there's the Derby, with Dornoch trained by Danny Gargan and ridden by Luis Saez, breaking from the rail. Werth was upset about Dornoch getting the No. 1 spot inside before recalling the horse likes to sprint out to the lead. The horse is a long shot that opened at 20-1.

“I really do think this could be a perfect storm of us,” Werth said. “If Dornoch can skid out in front and stay on the lead and keep the dirt off his face, I think we’ve got a real shot.”

A filly has dropped out of the Kentucky Oaks ahead of Friday's $1.5 million race at Churchill Downs.

Tapit Jenallie was withdrawn Thursday because of a slight injury to her back end, trainer Eddie Milligan Jr. said. She was 30-1 on the morning line.

“We felt like she’s just too nice of a filly to do anything detrimental to her health,” Milligan said. "It’s very disappointing, very disheartening, but that’s how this game is.”

He said Tapit Jenallie will get an extended break from racing and be re-evaluated.

Our Pretty Woman moves into the Oaks from the also-eligible list. She's trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and will be ridden by Joel Rosario, who was just elected to racing's Hall of Fame.

Whit Beckman is back at his Churchill Downs barn and overseeing Derby preparations for Honor Marie after getting out of the hospital.

The 42-year-old trainer from Louisville was diagnosed with rhabdomyolyis, a potentially serious condition in which damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins into the blood, which can damage the heart and kidneys, according to the Daily Racing Form. He was hospitalized for five days.

Beckman said his legs were numb and he couldn't walk last Friday. He said he had a blood infection and received fluids in the hospital.

AP Racing Writer Beth Harris and AP Sports Writer Gary B. Graves in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing

Kentucky Derby hopefuls Dornoch, front, and Endlessly work out at Churchill Downs Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby hopeful Dornoch, front, works out at Churchill Downs Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby hopefuls Dornoch, front, and Endlessly work out at Churchill Downs Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

FILE - Philadelphia Phillies' Jayson Werth celebrates after Game 5 of the baseball World Series in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008. The Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 to win the series. Werth won the World Series with Philadelphia and played 63 playoff games during his major league career with the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Phillies and Nationals, and still nothing compares with the adrenaline rush of his new favorite sport, horse racing. Werth owns over two dozen thoroughbreds, including Dornoch, who will run in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

FILE - Former Washington Nationals baseball player Jayson Werth stands near the House floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019. Werth won the World Series with Philadelphia and played 63 playoff games during his major league career with the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Phillies and Nationals, and still nothing compares with the adrenaline rush of his new favorite sport, horse racing. Werth owns over two dozen thoroughbreds, including Dornoch, who will run in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE - Washington Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth celebrates after scoring the winning run in a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014, in Washington. The Nationals won 6-5 in 11 innings. Werth won the World Series with Philadelphia and played 63 playoff games during his major league career with the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Phillies and Nationals, and still nothing compares with the adrenaline rush of his new favorite sport, horse racing. Werth owns over two dozen thoroughbreds, including Dornoch, who will run in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously wounded in an apparent assassination attempt just weeks before a Europe-wide election that has been deeply divisive. He was shot multiple times in an attack in the town of Handlova that authorities described as politically motivated, although they said the suspect did not belong to any political groups.

Here’s a global look at other notable assassinations and assassination attempts during the 21st century:

— Sept. 1, 2022: Argentina's then-Vice President Cristina Fernández is targeted by a man who reportedly aimed a handgun at point-blank range toward the politician in what government ministers characterize as an assassination attempt.

— July 8, 2022: Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is assassinated by a gunman who opened fire on him as he delivered a campaign speech on a street in western Japan.

— Nov. 6, 2021: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi survives an assassination attempt when two armed drones target his residence in Baghdad's Green Zone area. While al-Kadhimi is uninjured, seven of his security guards are injured in the attack.

— Oct. 15, 2021: British lawmaker David Amess is stabbed to death by an Islamic State supporter while meeting with voters.

— July 7, 2021: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse is assassinated by gunmen in an overnight raid on his Port-au-Prince home. His widow, Martine, ex-prime minister Claude Joseph and the former chief of Haiti’s National Police, Léon Charles, among others, are indicted in his killing in February 2024.

— April 20, 2021: Chad President Idriss Deby Itno is killed while battling rebels in the north. Hours earlier he had been declared the winner of an election that would have given him another six years in power.

— Aug. 4, 2018: Drones armed with explosives detonate near Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an apparent assassination attempt while he is delivering a speech to hundreds of soldiers being broadcast live on television. Six people are later arrested in connection with the attack.

— Dec. 19, 2016: Russia’s ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is shot dead by a Turkish policeman shouting condemnation of Russia’s military role in Syria, in front of a shocked gathering at a photo exhibit. The gunman was later killed in a shootout with police.

— July 15, 2016: A group of Turkish soldiers using tanks, warplanes and helicopters launch a plot to overthrow Turkey's president and government. The coup attempt fails. One year later, 40 people are sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on charges that include attempting to kill President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

— June 16, 2016: British lawmaker Jo Cox is shot and stabbed to death by a far-right supporter in the English village of Birstall, part of her constituency.

— Feb. 6, 2013: Tunisian left-wing opposition leader Chokri Belaid is fatally shot outside his Tunis home. His killing — followed six months later by that of another left-wing leader, Mohammed Brahmi — plunged Tunisia into political chaos. Four people are sentenced to death and two others to life in prison in March 2024 for their roles in his death.

— Oct. 20, 2011: Longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is hunted and summarily killed by insurgents after being toppled in a NATO-backed uprising.

— Jan. 8, 2011: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords survives an assassination attempt after being shot by a man in an Arizona grocery store parking lot while meeting with constituents. Giffords' injuries are so significant that she has to re-learn how to walk and talk. The attack kills six other people and wounds 11 more.

— March 2, 2009: Guinea-Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira is killed by renegade soldiers in his palace, hours after a bomb blast killed his rival in the West African nation.

— December 27, 2007: Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister in a Muslim-majority country as well as Pakistan’s second nationally elected prime minister, is shot at and then fatally attacked by a suicide bomber at a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

— Feb. 14, 2005: Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is killed by a suicide truck bomb on a seaside boulevard in Beirut. Another 21 people die and 226 are wounded in the attack, which is seen by many in Lebanon as the work of neighboring Syria.

— March 12, 2003: Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic is shot dead in front of the Serbian government headquarters in Belgrade. He was a key leader of the revolt that toppled former President Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000. Twelve people are later convicted in connection with the killing, which was carried out to halt his pro-Western reforms, according to a Serbian court ruling.

— July 2, 2002: French President Jacques Chirac survives an assassination attempt by a far-right right supporter who shoots at him and misses during Bastille Day celebrations on Paris' Champs-Elysees. Chirac is uninjured.

— May 6, 2002: Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is gunned down in a northern Netherlands city, days before a general election in which he was a candidate, by an animal rights activist.

— June 1, 2001: Nepal’s King Birendra is killed when his son, Crown Prince Dipendra, opens fire on his family in the royal palace. The dead include Queen Aiswarya, a prince and five others. Officials said the shooting followed a dispute over the prince’s marriage.

— Jan. 18, 2001: Congo President Laurent Kabila is assassinated in the presidential palace in the capital, Kinshasa, by one of his bodyguards, who is killed minutes later by security forces.

FILE - Supporters of Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez gather in Plaza de Mayo square the day after a person pointed a gun at her outside her home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

FILE - A police investigator works in a van at the scene where a person pointed a gun at Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez outside her home in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sept. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

FILE - People pray at a makeshift memorial at the scene where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot during an election campaign in Nara, western Japan on July 8, 2022. Abe was assassinated by a gunman who opened fire on him as he delivered a campaign speech on a street. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

Rescue workers wheel Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)

Police arrest a man after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured following the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)

FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting Wednesday May 15, 2024 and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)