Rich Strike is on the cusp of history as he will attempt to become only the 15th Kentucky Derby winner in the last 148 years to be victorious in the $750,000 Clark Stakes (G1).
“Richie,” as he's called by his owner Rick Dawson of RED TR Racing and trainer Eric Reed, is the first Derby winner to attempt the Clark since 1997 Derby winner Silver Charm won the 1998 Clark as a 4-year-old. In the last century it's been extremely rare to even have a Derby winner attempt to run in the Clark, especially in their 3-year-old season.
In 1970, Dust Commander returned to Churchill Downs for the Clark but only managed to finish third behind Watch Fob and Spud.
It's been since 1901 when His Eminence won both the Kentucky Derby and the Clark as a 3-year-old.
“It might even be another good omen that it's been a long time since someone has pulled this off, especially with what happened in the Derby being the second-longest price to ever win,” Reed said.
Rich Strike was tabbed as the 2-1 morning line favorite in the Clark where he'll make his start this month following a troubled fourth-place finish in the $6-million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland.
“If you were to ask me three months ago if I would've ever considered running in both races I likely would've said no,” Reed said. “Richie loves to train and the way he bounced out of that Classic showed us that he's ready to run again.”
The 1 1/8-mile Clark, which has run every year since 1875 at Churchill Downs, will go as Race 11 of 12 Friday with a post time of 5:56 p.m. (ET). First post for the “Black Friday” card is 1 p.m. and will also feature the 31st running of the $300,000 Mrs. Revere (G2) in Race 10.
The Clark field from the rail out (with jockey, trainer, morning-line odds): Proxy (Joel Rosario, Mike Stidham, 7-2); Trademark (Martin Garcia, Vicki Oliver, 20-1); Injunction (Rafael Bejarano, Carlo Vaccarezza, 6-1); Rich Strike (Leon, Reed, 2-1); Fulsome (Florent Geroux, Cox, 6-1); Last Samurai (Tyler Gaffalione, D. Wayne Lukas, 20-1); and West Will Power (Saez, Cox, 5-2).
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