The horse entered the race at odds of 80-1 – the biggest long shot in the field with 20 horses. Rich Strike started derby week as an alternative and was not added to the field until Friday, when another horse withdrew from the race.
“We came here to pray,” coach Eric Reed said during a post-race press conference. “Anyone in this business can be struck by lightning.”
When the horses entered the final leg of the race, Rich Strike was in the middle of the group, but surpassed the leaders and favorites of the betting Epicenter and Zandon in the final seconds of the race.
Epicenter and Zandon finished second and third, respectively.
Reed said his team went to Louisville a few days before the derby while still in alternate status to prepare for the possible scenario that the horse would take part in the race. Rich Strike started training “against all odds, no one thought we could get in,” Reed said.
On Friday, the day before the race, officials announced that another horse, Ethereal Road, had come out and Rich Strike was inside.
“I couldn’t even breathe,” Reed said.
“It’s … the reason everyone is doing this. Because we don’t have to be here, but I knew that this horse loves the track and he trains so well all year round, “he said after the race. This is Reid’s first winning horse in the derby.
Venezuelan jockey Sonny Leon, riding in his first Kentucky derby, led Rich Strike to a surprise victory and a $ 1.86 million winner’s bag.
“I was excited,” Leon said of his emotions before the race. “No one knows my horse as well as I know this horse.”
Rich Strike is owned by RED TR-Racing, LLC, according to the derby’s website. Named “The Biggest Two Minutes in Sport” – a hint at its approximate running time – Derby is the first race in the coveted American Crown Horse Racing Triple, which also includes Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
The next stage of the Triple Crown will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 21.
This year, the race opened wide without coach Bob Baffert, who was banned by Churchill Downs for two years after Medina Spirit, which crossed the finish line first last year, later tested positive for a banned substance. The spirit of Medina died unexpectedly in December.
Buffert claims that an ointment used to treat dermatitis may have caused a positive test.
The original runner-up in this race, Mandaloun, was declared the winner.
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