Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Thoroughbred racing is a large number of a sport, however it finds unbelievable, preposterous methods to redeem itself. It sometimes interrupts raging controversies to drop romantic tales from the heavens. It typically shoves apart the wealthy and well-known to raise winners you might not dream up, a lot much less see coming.
No one noticed Rich Strike coming Saturday. Not earlier than the Kentucky Derby, the place the horse wasn’t even assured of a spot within the subject till one other competitor scratched the day earlier than. Not throughout the first 9 furlongs of the 10-furlong race, as all eyes centered on a stretch duel between star 3-year-olds Epicenter and Zandon. Not till the very finish, when this no person of a horse, with a no person coach and no person jockey and no person proprietor, got here knifing alongside the rail a couple of strides earlier than the wire to launch himself into historical past.
Rich Strike, at 80-1 the second-longest shot to win this 148-year-old race, left 150,000 individuals gasping at Churchill Downs. He left a handful of his backers roaring and weeping with pleasure as they stood on the monitor—“We shocked the world, people!” mentioned one member of the entourage. He left his coach, Eric Reed, on the bottom within the paddock, collapsing after watching this miracle play out on the massive display screen—“I passed out,” he mentioned. “I don’t remember what happened.” He left his proprietor, Rick Dawson, who estimates he has received “about 10” races in his life, in an entire state of shock—“Um, what planet is this?” he requested, in a giddy daze.
The Sport of Kings was overtaken by pleasant, endearing commoners on this primary Saturday in May. No one missed Bob Baffert, banished from the monitor for treatment violations, his former horses ending properly up the monitor whereas he’s in exile. The plutocrat house owners, big-shot trainers and big-name jockeys all had been crushed to the wire by a gaggle that usually competes at obscure venues for small purses. For two mind-boggling minutes, racing grew to become a playground for the little guys who saddled their first Derby wearing denims and with their proper pinkie fingernails painted gold for good luck—even Reed’s father, Herbert, who skilled horses for 40 years and taught his son the enterprise.
Jockey Sonny Leon, coach Eric Reed and proprietor Rick Dawson rejoice their first Derby win of their first Derby look with Rich Strike.
Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
None of it made any sense. Even by the wildly unrealistic requirements of earlier long-shot winners like Mind That Bird (50-1 in 2009) and Country House (65-1 in 2019), this was a lot much less believable. Mind That Bird was no less than ridden by Calvin Borel, a Churchill Downs hero for years. Country House no less than was skilled by Hall of Famer Bill Mott. Rich Strike’s connections? Come on.
“We came here on a prayer,” Eric Reed mentioned.
The human tales are wonderful, however begin with the horse itself. Prior to Saturday, Rich Strike had received precisely one race in his life. He hadn’t even completed second in his earlier 5 begins, coming in third 3 times, fourth as soon as and fifth as soon as. There was a grand complete of zero individuals speaking about him throughout morning exercises at Churchill main as much as the hint.
It started inauspiciously for Rich Strike. His first race as a 2-year-old was at Ellis Park, a low-level monitor in Henderson, Ky., simply throughout the border from Evansville, Ind. The monitor’s nickname is “The Pea Patch,” for the soybeans that used to develop within the infield. Rich Strike was entered in a claiming race, which suggests one other proprietor and coach can put in a declare to purchase horses within the subject.
Claiming races are the spine of the game, however they virtually all the time are the province of cheaper horses with modest futures. You do not discover Kentucky Derby horses in claiming races. Reed, who admitted he by no means dreamed of getting a Derby horse—a lot much less a Derby winner—has made the vast majority of his residing within the claiming ranks.
Given that, Reed had his eye on Rich Strike after some sharp exercises on dust previous to his racing debut on grass. Rich Strike bombed, ending tenth that day. “He ran terrible,” Reed mentioned, however he was undeterred as a result of he believed the colt would do higher on dust. He misplaced a “shake” with one other coach for a unique horse within the race, however acquired Rich Strike for the sum of $30,000.
His first begin after shifting into Reed’s barn: final Sept. 17 at Churchill Downs, in one other $30,000 claimer. He romped to a 17-length victory at 10-1 odds, sparking optimism among the many connections that they could have one thing greater than a garden-variety claimer. Rich Strike then ran properly in an allowance race at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington in October, ending third regardless of a shaky begin and being steadied in visitors on the flip. Dawson requested Reed, “Do we have a Derby horse?” Reed’s response: “Maybe.”
“He tends to undersell and overdeliver,” Dawson mentioned of Reed.
So the 2 appeared on the calendar for the First Saturday in May 2022 and labored backward from there to craft a racing schedule that might get Rich Strike to Louisville. As a 3-year-old, the horse was campaigned at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., which is suburban Cincinnati.
Trying to earn sufficient factors to crash the Derby Top 20, Rich Strike earned only one for ending fourth within the John Battaglia Memorial on March 5. Then he earned 20 for a third-place end within the Jeff Ruby Steaks on April 2. That was sufficient to no less than put the colt on the bubble, however at No. 24, he nonetheless wanted a number of late defections to make the sector.
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After making a ‘kitchen move’ round Messier, Sonny Leon and Rich Strike edged out favourite Epicenter on the end.
Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
Rich Strike moved as much as No. 21, however by Friday morning, all hope seemed to be extinguished. Reed began disseminating the dangerous information to the employees in his barn and members of the family, sending out texts saying the horse wasn’t going to get in. But then, one in all Reed’s barn staff referred to as him and mentioned, “Don’t do anything with your horse.” Reed protested, however she insisted she heard of a scratch that was coming down.
Sure sufficient, Reed was formally notified that Ethereal Road was scratching. Racing steward Barbara Borden referred to as to ask him if he wished to attract in off the “Also Eligible” listing. “I couldn’t even breathe to answer and say yes,” Reed recalled.
(The scratch of Ethereal Road gave legendary coach D. Wayne Lukas two historic footnotes on the weekend. He received the Kentucky Oaks Friday with Secret Oath at age 86, after which cleared the best way for the Derby winner to get within the race.)
Reed texted the thrilling change of plans to a gaggle that included his daughter, Shelby. She drove from Nashville to Louisville on Saturday morning for the race, pondering, “I just hope he doesn’t finish last.” Then, she discovered herself speaking by way of sobs on the monitor after the beautiful triumph. Her father’s presence right here was exceptional for extra causes than simply spending his profession on the game’s decrease ranges. He survived a near-death bout with COVID-19 final 12 months, touchdown within the Intensive Care Unit for 9 days. Six years earlier, a devastating barn hearth practically chased him out of the game.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2016, one in all three barns at Reed’s Mercury Equine Center in Lexington, Ky., caught hearth, probably the results of a lightning strike. By the time Reed and his spouse, Kay, rushed to the scene, there was nothing within the barn that might be saved. That included 23 horses who had been housed there.
“The next morning when we saw the devastation—because this happened in the middle of the night—I just thought of all the years and all of the stuff we had done to get this beautiful farm,” Reed mentioned. “And to have this happen, that something might be telling me it’s the end of the line.”
Shelby Reed was among the many members of the family who inspired Eric to persevere. “He said he was going to quit,” she recalled. “We told him, ‘You can’t. You can’t go out when you’re down.’”
The outpouring of help was overwhelming. Said Reed: “About the third or fourth day, when people started showing up from states that didn’t know who I was and they just saw the story, it let me know there’s so much good out there. And then I had a few trainers that sent me texts—some big trainers, the guys you know well—that told me, ‘Don’t let this take you out. And we’ll help you. We’ll get you horses. We’ll get you clients, whatever you need.’ And I think that kept me going.”
After getting again on his ft, Reed ultimately connected with Dawson to companion on a couple of horses. They by no means received a stakes race, only one allowance race, however acquired alongside properly and noticed the enterprise the identical means. One of their common riders grew to become Sonny Leon, a Venezuelan whose modest document matches proper in with the remainder of the crew. Leon presently is the fourth-leading rider at Belterra Park in Hamilton County, Ohio, downriver from Cincinnati. It’s a modest place tethered to a on line casino, with no races of nationwide word. Leon’s final win there was May 3, a $5,000 claiming race. The coach of that horse: Eric Reed.
On Friday, Leon went 0-for-5 at Belterra. On Saturday, he rode in his first Kentucky Derby. And he occurred to show within the experience of a lifetime, one of many greats within the historical past of the race.
“I’m not nervous,” he advised individuals who requested him about using within the Derby. “I’m excited.”
Breaking from the far outdoors publish, Leon prudently guided Rich Strike towards the center of the monitor and again of the pack. He was 18th within the 20-horse subject going underneath the wire the primary time, nonetheless 18th after half a mile, and seventeenth halfway by way of the race. A non-factor. But the tempo in entrance of Rich Strike was stout, setting it up for a better. Leon made a patented “kitchen move,” urging his mount ahead across the monitor kitchen on the backstretch, about 5/8 of a mile from the end line.
He fearlessly moved Rich Strike into mid-pack, then down towards the rail to save lots of floor across the flip. The visitors thinned at that time, heading into the stretch. “When I turned for home, the road opened for me,” Leon mentioned. But useless forward, a tiring Messier was stopping badly. Leon needed to make an abrupt determination and daring transfer, veering out round Messier after which again to the rail. Then, he took purpose on the leaders, Epicenter and Zandon, who seemed to be in a match race for the roses.
That actually was how Epicenter coach Steve Asmussen learn the scenario. He and Chad Brown, coach of Zandon, are two of essentially the most completed within the nation. One of them lastly was about to win his first Derby … till Rich Strike loomed, impossibly.
Afterward, Asmussen might solely chortle in regards to the end result.
“It’s as improbable as any scenario any of us ever imagined,” Asmussen mentioned. “As they were loading into the gates, I was thinking how much goes into this exact moment and all of the buildup. And all the scenarios my rambling mind can come up with? That wasn’t one of them.
“At the head of the stretch, this is what you’re dreaming about. Oh, and by the way, you’re about to get run down by a claimer. And I don’t mean that as any disrespect to the winner. What a beautiful story.”
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