Rich Strike, Winner of the Kentucky Derby, Will Skip the Preakness & More Trending News

There will likely be no Triple Crown champion this 12 months after the proprietor of the Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike introduced Thursday that his colt would skip the Preakness Stakes and run as an alternative in the Belmont Stakes.

The proprietor, Rick Dawson, stated that his horse had come out of the Derby in advantageous form however that he and the coach, Eric Reed, had determined to not push Rich Strike into the second leg of the Triple Crown in Baltimore subsequent Saturday after solely two weeks of relaxation, particularly after successful America’s most well-known horse race (and a legion of followers) as an 80-1 shot.

The colt didn’t even draw into the Derby area till the day earlier than the race, when Ethereal Road scratched.

“Our original plan for Rich Strike was contingent on the Kentucky Derby. Should we not run in the Derby we would point toward the Preakness,” Dawson stated in an announcement. “Should we run in the Derby, subject to the race outcome and the condition of our horse, we would give him more recovery time.”

Dawson stated one attainable plan was to run the horse, nicknamed Ritchie, in the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 11, however in any occasion to provide him 5 to 6 weeks between races.

“Obviously, with our tremendous effort and win in the Derby, it’s very, very tempting to alter our course and run in the Preakness at Pimlico, which would be a great honor for all our group,” Dawson continued. “However, after much discussion and consideration with my trainer, Eric Reed, and a few others, we are going to stay with our plan of what’s best for Ritchie is what’s best for our group, and pass on running in the Preakness, and point toward the Belmont in approximately five weeks.”

In an announcement, Reed stated of the horse: “What matters most is what’s best for him. We hate the decision we had to make but it was the right one.”

But Dawson and Reed had cautioned that sending Rich Strike to Baltimore was no certain factor. At Churchill Downs, the residence of the Derby in Louisville, Ky., the colt was on a racetrack the place he had received earlier than (by 17 lengths). The monitor is conducive to Rich Strike’s late-closing type.

The Preakness is one-sixteenth of a mile shorter than the Derby, and the configuration of Pimlico Race Course options tighter turns and calls for extra agility.

There additionally figures to be far fewer horses than the 20 that confirmed up in Louisville and none is more likely to set the identical blistering early tempo that complemented Rich Strike’s late flip of foot. In the Derby, the colt caught Epicenter and Zandon, who had been tiring after monitoring the early leaders.

The defection of Rich Strike means Epicenter, who completed second in the Derby and is dedicated to the Preakness, is now the probably favourite to win the second jewel in the Triple Crown.

The mile and a half Belmont Stakes, with its massive sweeping turns, ought to assist Rich Strike flip in his greatest effort, particularly after 5 weeks’ relaxation.

Or no less than that’s what Dawson and Reed are betting.

They proved canny after they set their sights on getting Rich Strike into the Derby, as did bettors who believed in the colt. Rich Strike paid $163.60 on a $2 wager to win. Only Donerail in 1913 had a better payout, at $184.90.

Still, it’s at all times disappointing for horse racing fanatics when a Triple Crown bid is just not on the desk. And Rich Strike had a very compelling again story that touched even those that should not horse racing followers.

He was bought in a claiming race for $30,000. The colt is the solely horse Dawson has in coaching. Rich Strike’s rider, Sonny Leon, a 32-year-old from Venezuela, additionally has a working-class pedigree. He was the Eleventh-ranked rider in the nation final 12 months, however piled up these victories principally at backwater tracks in Ohio. He had by no means received a graded stakes race earlier than the Derby, and Dawson, Reed and Leon had been all making their Derby debuts.

In 2019, Country House turned the first Kentucky Derby winner to skip the second leg of the Triple Crown since Grindstone in 1996. Country House had completed second in the Derby however was elevated to first after racing officers disqualified Maximum Security, who crossed the line first, for interfering with a number of horses.

Bill Mott, who skilled Country House, stated the colt had developed a cough. The Derby turned out to be the colt’s final race. He now stands as a stallion in Kentucky.