Anyone expecting a return to normalcy at the Kentucky Derby received a dose of crazy Saturday when an 80-1 shot came up to win the Churchill Downs.
With favorites Epicenter and Zandon taking part in a duel ahead, Rich Strike stole the show with the second biggest upheaval in Derby’s 148-year history.
The Chestnut Stallion defeated his favorite Epicenter 4-1 by three-quarters of the length. Zandon finished another three-quarters of the length back in third place.
“I almost fell into the paddock when he hit the wire,” said winning coach Eric Reed. “I almost fainted.”
WATCH l Rich Strike Wins Kentucky Derby in Shocking Disorder:
Rich Strike, 80-1 long shot, shocks the world of horse racing by winning the Kentucky Derby
Rich Strike and jockey Sonny Leon filmed the 148th Kentucky derby on Saturday at the Churchill Downs in Louisville. 1:32
Rich Strike pays $ 163.60 US. Only Donerail in 1913 had a higher payout of $ 184.90.
“What a crazy derby,” said coach Kenny McPeak, whose horses finished eighth and ninth.
Rich Strike wasn’t even in the derby until Friday, when Hall of Fame coach D. Wayne Lucas scratched Ethereal Road, making room for the Chestnut Stallion, who had only two previous victories in his career.
“We found out about 30 seconds before the deadline on Friday,” said owner Rick Dawson. “It got us in the race and we really always felt that if we just came in, we had a chance.”
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Rich Strike ran 1 1/4 miles in 2: 02.61. After biting off his much more expensive race, he playfully bit the pony, which led him to the winner’s circle.
“I can’t believe Epicenter’s efforts,” said losing coach Steve Asmussen, who dropped to 0 to 24 in the Derby. “I was beaten by the horse that just came in.”
Jockey Sonny Leon and Rich Strike had defeated only two horses in the beginning. Eventually, Leon steered his horse between the horses and into the inner rail. Rich Strike made a deft move around Messier in the section and returned straight to the rail with the intention of killing Epicenter and Zandon.
“When I was in the last 70 yards, I said, ‘I think I won this race,'” Leon said.
Sony Leon celebrates after driving Rich Strike along the finish line on Saturday. (Charlie Neibergal / Associated Press)
Both Leon from Venezuela and Reed were in their first derby. Reed suffered a tragedy five years ago when he lost nearly two dozen horses in a barn fire at his Lexington training center.
For a moment, he thought the fire might be a signal for him to leave the sport.
“People I hadn’t seen, people I hadn’t talked to in years, my best friends were there in the morning to pick me up,” Reed recalled. “It made me realize that there is so much good out there, and then I just decided I wouldn’t let it get me out.
Leon regularly runs on some of the smallest tracks in the country, where horsemeat is cheap and purse money is modest. But he compared minds to veteran riders like Joel Rosario aboard the Epicenter and Mike Smith aboard the Messier.
Leon’s train journey was reminiscent of jockey Calvin Borrell’s stealth move aboard Mine That Bird in 2009. Mine That Bird caused the Derby’s third biggest disappointment at the time, paying $ 103.20 to win.
“Lightning can strike”
Reed had no dispute with the bettors, ignoring his foal, whose victory certainly inspired little boys everywhere.
“Little coach, little rider, little stable, he had to be 80-1,” Reed said. “And so anyone in this business can be struck by lightning.”
Rich Strike was bought by Dawson, which competes as RED TR-Racing LLC, for $ 30,000 last fall when the stallion was included in a low-level competition by its former owner.
Calumet farm manager Brad Kelly can challenge that decision now. Calumet Farm won a record eight derbies in Kentucky, but none since 1968, when the Forward Pass was placed in first place by disqualification.
Rich Strike won $ 1.86 million for his first betting win. The stallion lost to Zandon at Blue Grass Stakes last month and was defeated by Epicenter in the Louisiana derby in March.
Simplification finished fourth and Mo Donegal fifth. Canadian horse Messier finished 15th.
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Churchill Downs returned to full capacity, including former President Donald Trump, on the first Saturday in May for the first time in three years.
But the end result was the biggest shock for America’s biggest horse race.
In 2019, the winner of Maximum Security was disqualified for intervening after 22 minutes, and the second Country House wore a garland of red roses.
In 2020, an ominous silence enveloped the track when no fans were allowed in due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the race was postponed to September.
Last year’s winner, Medina Spirit, was disqualified nine months after failing a drug test after a race that led to six-time Derby winner Bob Buffert, who was eliminated by Churchill Downs for two years. The 2021 derby has returned to its usual place on the calendar with a presence limited to around 52,000.
Bourbon was pouring again on Saturday, cigar smoke swirled in the air on a cloudy and unusually cool day, and fans were scattered with their huge hats, floral dresses and lies costumes.
Then came Rich Strike, which exploded along the rails and everything, damn it, fell apart.
A few days ago, Reed sent Dawson a picture of the stallion lying on his straw-covered stand, with guides lying on top of him, all asleep. Reed wrote, “I think our horse is cool and ready to run.”
Dawson replied, “If we can wake him up.”
Have they ever.
“I feel like the happiest person alive,” Dawson said, grinning.
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