There will be no Triple Crown champion this year after Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike announced on Thursday that his foal will miss Preakness Stakes and join Belmont Stakes instead.
Owner Rick Dawson said his horse came out of the Derby in good shape, but he and coach Eric Reed have decided not to push Rich Strike in the second leg of Triple Crown in Baltimore next Saturday, after just two weeks off, especially after winning. of America’s most famous horse race (and legion of fans) as a shot 80-1.
The stallion didn’t even enter the Derby field until the day before the race, when Ethereal Road was scratched.
“Our initial plan for Rich Strike depends on the Kentucky Derby. “If we don’t take part in the derby, we will point out Preakness,” Dawson said in a statement. “If we participate in the derby, depending on the outcome of the race and the condition of our horse, we will give him more time to recover.”
Dawson said one possible plan was to release a horse nicknamed Richie at the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 11, but in any case give it five to six weeks between races.
“Obviously, with our great effort and victory in the derby, it is very, very tempting to change course and run in Preakness in Pimlico, which would be a great honor for our whole group,” Dawson continued. “However, after long discussions and deliberations with my coach Eric Reed and several others, we will stay with our plan for what is best for Richie is what is best for our group, and we will continue to we work at Preakness and point to Belmont in about five weeks.
In a statement, Reed said of the horse: “The most important thing is what is best for him. We hate the decision we had to make, but it was the right one. “
But Dawson and Reed warned that sending Rich Strike to Baltimore was not certain. In Churchill Downs, home of the Louisville Derby, Kentucky, the stallion was on a racetrack where he had won before (17 lengths). The song is conducive to the style of the late closing of Rich Strike.
Preakness is one-sixteenth of a mile shorter than the Derby, and the Pimlico Race Course configuration includes narrower turns and requires more agility.
There are also figures that the horses are much smaller than the 20 that appeared in Louisville, and no one is likely to set the same incredibly early pace that complemented the late turn of Rich Strike. In the derby, the stallion caught Epicenter and Zandon, who were getting tired after following the early leaders.
Rich Strike’s refusal means that Epicenter, who finished second in the derby and committed to Preakness, is now the likely favorite to win the second jewel in the Triple Crown.
A mile and a half of Belmont Stakes, with its big turns, should help Rich Strike turn to his best, especially after a five-week break.
Or at least that’s what Dawson and Reed are betting on.
They proved cunning when trying to get Rich Strike into the derby, as did the bettors who believed in the stallion. Rich Strike called $ 163.60 on a $ 2 bet to win. Only Donerail in 1913 had a higher payout, at $ 184.90.
Still, it’s always frustrating for horse racing enthusiasts when a triple crown offer isn’t on the table. And Rich Strike had a particularly compelling story that touched even those who are not fans of horse racing.
It was purchased in a $ 30,000 claim race. The foal is the only horse Dawson has in training. Rich Strike rider Sonny Leon, 32, of Venezuela, also has a working pedigree. He was the nation’s 11th-ranked runner-up last year, but he amassed those victories mostly on backwaters in Ohio. He had never won a betting race before the Derby, and Dawson, Reed and Leon made their Derby debuts.
In 2019, Country House became the first Kentucky derby winner to miss the Triple Crown rematch after Grindstone in 1996. Country House finished second in the Derby, but was promoted to first place after race officials disqualified Maximum Security, who crossed the line first, for the intervention of several horses.
Bill Mott, who trained Country House, said the foal developed a cough. The derby turned out to be the last race of the stallion. He now stands as a stallion in Kentucky.
Add Comment