It was around 9 a.m. Friday morning, the day before the 148th Kentucky Derby, that trainer Eric Reed found out that RICH STRIKE, a colt he trains for Rick Dawson’s RED TR-Racing LLC, had drawn into the Derby field. Since the Derby and Churchill Downs allow 20 horses in the field for the 1 1/4 mile ‘run for the roses’, Rick Strike had been on the outside looking in for weeks. He had just 21 Derby points and was the 21st horse on the list last week. When D. Wayne Lukas scratched Ethereal Road on Friday morning, Rich Strike drew into the Derby field.
Reed, a winner of some 1,400 races as a trainer at tracks such as Beulah Park, Mountaineer, and Turfway Park, is a lifetime horseman. His father Herbert trained for over 40 years, apprenticing under the guidance of Mack Miller. Eric Reed, a trainer since 1983 who won his first stakes race in 1986, has trained some nice stakes horses during his career.
But in 2016 the worst happened. Some two dozen horses of Reeds died in a barn fire at his training centre in Lexington. He had to start over.
Six years later, Rich Strike (Keen Ice – Gold Strike, by Smart Strike), at 80-to-1, rallied inside of rivals under a heady Sonny Leon to take the $3 million Kentucky Derby, a result that warmed the hearts of horsepeople and racing fans alike.
Here in Canada, those who noticed celebrated the success of Rich Strike’s dam, Manitoba-bred GOLD STRIKE (Smart Strike – Brassy Gold, by Dixieland Brass) who won the 2005 Woodbine Oaks, finished third in the Queen’s Plate and was named Canada’s Champion 3-Year-Old Filly for owner and breeder Dick Bonnycastle and trainer Reade Baker (more on Gold Strike in an upcoming post).
In addition, Rich Strike is inbred 3×2 to SMART STRIKE, the great Sam-Son Farms Grade 1 winner and top sire.
Rich Strike is Gold Strike’s sixth foal to race and second stakes winner. The mare also produced Llanarmon, winner of the Grade 2 Natalma Stakes and Carotene Stakes.
Claimed from his second career start for $30,000 – a maiden race he won by more than 17 lengths, at Churchill Downs no less – Rich Strike snuck up on a battling EPICENTER and ZANDON to win by half-length.
Rich Strike covered the mile and a quarter in 2:02.61, good for a 101 Beyer Speed Figure, over a fast track and produced an upset second only to Donerail’s triumph at 91-1 in 1913.
Summer Is Tomorrow set the pace while being tracked by Crown Pride (JPN) through incredibly fast fractions of :21.78, :45.36 and 1:10.34 as Epicenter set up in mid-pack along the rail with Zandon tracking right behind him.
On the far turn, Epicenter with Joel Rosario began to close in on the leaders who had been joined by Messier with Zandon and Flavien Prat moving behind Messier.
At the top of the stretch, Epicenter and Zandon both attacked with three- and four-wide moves to shoot to the front at the three-sixteenths pole.
Behind them, Leon was working out a beautiful trip on Rich Strike, who had started from post 20.
After the break, Leon immediately took Rich Strike toward the inside where he raced between horses in the run down the backside. On the far turn, Rich Strike maintained his inside position and carried that into the stretch.
Nearing the eighth pole, he came off the rail to split the tiring Messier and Crown Pride for clear sailing and ran down the leaders in the final 50 yards.
Rich Strike, who was bred by Calumet Farm, had a troubled trip when third in a Keeneland allowance following his maiden win and then was fifth in the Gun Runner Stakes behind Epicenter. His last three races all came on Tapeta at Turfway Park when a closing fourth and third in the Battaglia and Jeff Ruby Steaks respectively.
His sire KEEN ICE (Curlin) won the 2015 Travers Stakes (G1) and was third in the Belmont Stakes. Rich Strike is his second stakes winner and a member of his first crop of foals. Keen Ice stands for $7,500 at Calumet.
The winner’s share was $1,860,000 and improved Rich Strike’s earnings to $1,971,289 with a record of 8-2-0-3.
Rich Strike returned $163.60, $74.20 and $29.40. Epicenter returned $7.40 and $5.20 with Zandon finishing another three-quarters of a length back in third and paying $5.60 to show.
It was another 2 lengths back to Simplification, who was followed in order by Mo Donegal, Barber Road, Tawny Port, Smile Happy, Tiz the Bomb, Zozos, Classic Causeway, Taiba, Crown Pride (JPN), Happy Jack, Messier, White Abarrio, Charge It, Cyberknife, Pioneer of Medina and Summer Is Tomorrow.
The overhead view makes Rich Strike's comeback for the upset @KentuckyDerby win look even more incredible. 😮 #KyDerby | @ChurchillDowns pic.twitter.com/iDfkGVZS0O
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 8, 2022
More from Canadian Thoroughbred:
