Eric Reed | Horse Racing Free Tips

Change the Triple Crown? Let’s Not Start That Nonsense Again

I suppose it wasn't a complete surprise that the connections of Rich Strike (Keen Ice) announced Thursday that their GI Kentucky Derby winner will not run in the GI Preakness S. and will instead point for the GI Belmont S., forgoing any chance he might have had to win the Triple Crown. Owners and trainers have grown so frightened by the idea of running their horses back on two-weeks' rest that something like this was inevitable.

So this year's Preakness, missing the feel-good 80-1 winner of the Derby will not be as good as it could have been. Does that mean it's time to change the structure of the Triple Crown and put more time between the Derby and the Preakness? No.

By all accounts, Rich Strike is in the best form of his life and came out of the Derby in good order. But that wasn't good enough for owner Rick Dawson and trainer Eric Reed.

The last Derby winner to skip the Preakness was, actually, last year's winner Mandaloun (Into Mischief). But he wasn't declared the winner of the Derby until well after the race, when Medina Spirit (Protonico) was officially disqualified. Before that, there was Country House (Lookin at Lucky), who also picked up the win thanks to a disqualification. But he came out of the Derby with a problem and never raced again. Before that, there was Grindstone in 1996, who suffered an injury and was retired after the Derby. In 1985, Spend a Buck won the Derby and passed on the Preakness to shoot instead for a $2.6 million payday he was eligible for if he were to win the Jersey Derby.

You have to go all the way back to 1982 and Gato Del Sol when a Derby winner passed the Preakness fo no other reason than the connections didn't think running back so quickly was the right move. Gato Del Sol finished second in the Belmont.

I disagree with the decision made by Dawson and Reed. There's no reason why a healthy, fit horse can't run back in two weeks. There's that and they have a chance to make history by winning the Triple Crown. That's not something anyone should just toss away. But I understand where they are coming from. They genuinely believe that they are doing the right thing by the horse and there's never anything wrong with that.

Their horse. Their decision. It happens. Let's move on.

But some aren't willing to do that. Within minutes of the announcement out of Pimlico that Rich Strike would not run in the Preakness, there was the expected hue and cry that it's time to change the Triple Crown. Maybe four weeks between races. Or maybe more. Some even want to change the distances of the races, shorten them and end with the mile-and-a-quarter Belmont S. Call it the Triple Crown Lite.

Coming into the 2015 Triple Crown, the clamor to alter the Triple Crown was at a fever pitch because it had been 37 years since a horse had swept all three races and the pundits were saying winning three very tough Grade I races in a five-week span was impossible. Except it wasn't. American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) proved it could be done. Three years later, Justify (Scat Daddy) did it again. That was two Triple Crown winners over a 4-year span and the “let's change the Triple Crown” crowd went quiet.

The reason why the Triple Crown should never be changed is simple and, I would think, obvious. One of the reasons it is so hard to win is because the spacing of the races does indeed present a huge challenge. But that's exactly the way it should be. This is very hard and that's why it has only been done 13 times and every horse who has pulled it off is, rightly, considered an immortal. Putting more time between races would cheapen the accomplishment and all future Triple Crown winners would deserve to have an asterisk next to their names. That just can't be.

Yes, a Preakness with Rich Strike is a better, more compelling race that one without him. But this year's Preakness has a lot to offer. Trainer Wayne Lukas, who would rather have his right and left arm cut off than skip the Preakness with a Derby winner, has all but taken care of that. The filly Secret Oath (Arrogate) is a terrific story and her quest to pull a Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) and beat the boys in the Preakness makes this a fascinating race. Derby runner-up Epicenter (Not This Time) is coming back for round two and is a very good horse who would have been the favorite whether Rich Strike ran or not.

On Preakness afternoon, Rich Strike will spend his afternoon resting and relaxing in his stall at trainer Eric Reed's Mercury Equine Center. Jockey Sonny Leon will ride a couple of $5,000 claimers at Belterra Park. It's OK. The Triple Crown will be just fine.

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Derby Winner Rich Strike To Bypass Preakness

Rich Strike (Keen Ice), who sensationally upended last Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby as the 80-1 longest shot in the field of 20, will bypass the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico May 21, owner Rick Dawson said Thursday afternoon.

“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, should we run in the Derby, subject to the race outcome and the condition of our horse, we would give him more recovery time and rest and run in the Belmont or another race and stay on course to run with five or six weeks' rest between races,” Dawson said in a statement released by 1/ST.

“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, 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.

“We thank the wonderful Preakness and Pimlico folks that have reached out to us and very much appreciate the invite.”

The Derby winner's defection comes just one day after trainer D. Wayne Lukas confirmed that GI Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath (Arrogate) would back up in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Epicenter (Not This Time), who finished 3/4 of a length behind Rich Strike in the Derby, is also moving on to Old Hilltop, while a decision on third-placed Zandon (Upstart) is pending. The latter's stablemate Early Voting (Gun Runner) is already a confirmed starter in the Preakness and Derby fourth Simplification (Not This Time) is already on the Pimlico backstretch.

Claimed for $30,000 out of a second-out maiden victory at Churchill last September, Rich Strike was beaten 14 lengths into fifth by Epicenter in the Dec. 26 Gun Runner S. at Fair Grounds and entered the Derby off a third behind Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park Apr. 2.

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And The Last Shall Be First…

The Week in Review by T. D. Thornton

A blue-collar trainer lives through a devastating barn fire caused by a lightning strike that kills 23 horses. But he vows to rebuild his racing stable, and a few years later gets connected with an owner client who hasn't had much success at low levels of the sport, yet wants to forge ahead anyway because his love of Thoroughbreds exceeds his disillusionment with the industry.

They acquire a colt for relatively short money who is essentially a cast-off from a much larger racing operation that has bred a record nine GI Kentucky Derby winners. This longshot wins by a gaudy 17 1/4 lengths the day he is claimed by these new connections, then fails to win a race over the next eight months. But he manages to sneak into America's most important and historic horse race because of a quirky qualifying points system and the last-minute scratch of a higher-ranking entrant.

Out of loyalty, the owner and trainer stick with the colt's minor-track jockey who has never ridden in a major stakes, let alone a race of the magnitude of the Derby. The colt goes off at 80-1, the longest shot in the 20-horse race, starting from the undesirable outermost stall. He is last the first time the field flashes past the finish wire, then deftly weaves his way through the tight pack and blasts past the most regally bred and expensive horses in the nation to register the second-largest betting upset in Derby history.

Is someone taking notes for a movie script?

You needn't bother. Such a plot line would surely get rejected on the basis that no one would believe it could happen.

But it did at Churchill Downs Saturday, and the compelling “everyman” story line involving Rich Strike (Keen Ice), owner Rick Dawson, trainer Eric Reed, and jockey Sonny Leon has proven buoyantly irresistible in the immediate aftermath of the improbable upset.

“This is a game where this horse should have been 80-1 on paper,” Reed said post-race. “But we train him; we're around him every day. Small trainer, small rider, small stable. He should have been 80-1. But I've been around a long time, and I've had some really nice horses. And we knew what we had.

“I'm not telling you by any means we knew we had a Derby winner,” Reed continued. “If we didn't think we were going to be in the Derby, we wouldn't have been prepping for this all year. We knew we had a horse that was capable of running good. And so anybody that's in this business, lightning can strike.”

Or–in Reed's case–strike twice. That first bolt of lightning, in 2016 at his Mercury Equine Training Center in Lexington, sparked tragedy. This one ignited triumph.

“We don't go out and buy the big horses. We just try to have a good-quality stable. We always perform well,” explained the 57-year-old Reed, a second-generation horseman who is based in Kentucky but campaigns most often at C-level tracks in Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia.

“Our percentages are always good, and we take care of the horse first. And the rest falls into place.

“I never dreamed I would be here. I never thought I'd have a Derby horse. I never tried to go to the yearling sale and buy a Derby horse,” Reed continued. “I just wanted to buy my clients a horse that would keep them happy, have some fun, maybe make a little money. If we got a good one, terrific. So this was never in my plans. Everybody would love to win the Derby. I always would, but I never thought I would be here, ever.”

Happiness? Fun? A little money? The hard-charging chestnut with the skinny white blaze and ornery post-race disposition delivered on all counts Saturday.

Amid the press conference hoopla, Dawson wasn't even sure how many winners he's had in his brief foray into Thoroughbred ownership, which he now conducts under the stable name RED TR-Racing, LLC. Fewer than 10, he guessed? He didn't even think he had won an allowance race prior to taking down the Derby.

“We had one,” Reed reminded him.

“But as far as my career in horse racing, I think it just started,” Dawson said, eliciting laughter from a press corps that was relishing having fresh faces at the Derby podium speaking in a genuine, off-the-cuff manner.

“I have two horses training,” said Dawson, who hails from Oklahoma and is semi-retired from owning an energy-industry business. “One is rehabbing that was in training. It's not a serious injury. And we had a really nice filly that was really fast. We had great expectations for her. Eric detected a little something with her one day during training, and we had the vet take a look and said, yeah, she has a little knee issue and she might run 20 more times, but she may not. And Eric and I made promises to each other a long time ago. In fact, Eric made this promise to himself a long time before he met me. But we just don't push a horse on the track that's not ready.”

Dawson didn't mention that filly's name, but did disclose that he retired her and bred her to Keen Ice–not knowing at the time that stallion would be the sire of his eventual Derby winner.

“I'm kind of in the Keen Ice family, as you can tell,” Dawson said. “And just recently I actually bought a yearling [by] Keen Ice that's an Ohio-bred. So that's kind of the family right there. It's very limited. I guess there's five horses. And I think the most horses I've ever owned a share in at one time is maybe six. But I didn't get into this to win the Kentucky Derby–although I'm not giving the trophy back.

“I got in it because I loved it, and it was interesting. It was fun. I was at a point in my life where I had the time and the energy, wanted to go to the farm; and I learned the business. And Eric was so great about teaching me. If I asked him a stupid question, he didn't say, 'That's a stupid question.' He would just give me a great answer, and truthfully. And I would learn from that. And that's how we built what we built.”

Dawson said he partnered with Reed because he liked the way the veteran trainer “usually undersells and overperforms,” adding, “That's kind of the way he goes about life.”

Reed described their relationship like this: “Well, Rick and I were trying to build a stable. He had gone through a rough patch. And he really should have gotten out of the business, but he decided to give it another chance.”

At a later point in the press conference, Dawson was prodded to explain the nature of that “bad luck” as an owner. He showed no hesitation in taking the high road when answering.

“As far as my bad experiences in horse racing, I'm not going to go there,” Dawson replied diplomatically. “Thanks, though.”

The afterglow from the life-altering victory will give way to a back-to-work mode as Rich Strike heads to Baltimore–like all Derby winners do–with a figurative target on his back for the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico.

The colt's connections should be forewarned that life under a microscope awaits.

When they drape your horse in a blanket of roses at Churchill Downs, no one gives you a handbook that explains how every training decision will suddenly be hyper-scrutinized and second-guessed or how becoming famous literally overnight can wreak havoc on one's well-being.

But for now, Rich Strike and his people are entitled to bask.

Asked to articulate how the “win for the little guy” impacts the morale of the sport, Dawson put it this way:

“It's got to be a feel-good story,” the owner of the Derby winner said. “And I hope everybody takes it that way. I feel like the luckiest man alive. That's actually my nickname. So, sorry–I can't help it.”

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80-1 Longshot Strikes It Rich in Derby

LOUISVILLE, KY – Credit the Coach with an assist.

Making his way into the field following the late scratch of the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Ethereal Road (Quality Road), also-eligible Rich Strike (Keen Ice) lit up the tote board with an impossible 80-1 upset in Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. It was three-quarters of a length back to 4-1 favorite Epicenter (Not This Time) in second. Zandon (Upstart) was another three-quarters back in third.

“He passed them all,” winning trainer Eric Reed said. “I'm elated. I'm happy because this horse trained good enough to win. This rider [Sonny Leon] has been on him all along as he learned the process. He taught him to go between horses. He taught me who to train horses [pointing to his father, Herbert]. I'm surrounded by the best. I didn't think I could win necessarily but I knew if he got it, they'd know who he was when the race was over.”

Rich Strike was overlooked for good reason. Claimed for $30,000 by Richard Dawson's RED TR-Racing, LLC and Reed off breeder Calumet Farm out of a 17 1/4-length maiden tally at second asking beneath the Twin Spires Sept. 17, he hadn't gotten his picture taken in five subsequent attempts. He did outrun his odds in his three most recent starts over Turfway's all-weather, however, including a fourth-place finish at 20-1 in the John Battaglia Memorial S. Mar. 5 and a third-place at 26-1 in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S. Apr. 2. Animal Kingdom was the last to successfully use the Jeff Ruby as a Derby prep, parlaying a win there to wear the roses in 2011.

“What planet is this? I feel like I have been propelled somewhere,” Dawson, an Oklahoma resident and semi-retired from the oil and gas industry, said. “I'm not sure. This is unbelievable. I asked my trainer up on the stage, I said, 'Are you sure this is not a dream? Because it can't be true.' He assured me this is real. I said okay.”

Rich Strike was far back in 18th and masterfully guided throughout and kept out of traffic by the Ohio-based Leon, who had previously never guided home a graded winner. Rich Strike was immediately taken to the inside in the two path from his high draw as the top two from the G2 UAE Derby Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front) and Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn}) absolutely flew through punishing early fractions of :21.78 and :45.36.

Epicenter and Zandon, meanwhile, quietly began to sneak up into striking position while saving all the ground as Messier (Empire Maker) enjoyed first run heading into the far turn. Epicenter revved up three deep with an explosive move to hit the front at the quarter pole and Zandon followed suit with a menacing bid of his own. The stage was set for the match-up that everyone wanted to see, but Rich Strike had other ideas.

Making steady progress throughout, Leon kept his cool and steered Rich Strike off the rail to avoid the tiring Messier leaving the three-sixteenths. He shot through an inviting opening close to home and reeled in the highly regarded winners of the GII Louisiana Derby and GI Blue Grass S. to pull off the second-biggest upset in the 148 runnings of the Kentucky Derby.

Returning $163.60 to win and keying a $2,050.60 exacta for a buck, Rich Strike's upset trails only Donerail's shocker at 91-1 in 1913. Rich Strike's sire Keen Ice is certainly no stranger to upsets either. He famously took down Triple Crown winner American Pharoah at 16-1 in the 2015 GI Travers S.

“You know we had a difficult post but I know the horse,” Leon said. “I didn't know if he could win but I had a good feeling with him. I had to wait until the stretch and that's what I did. I waited and then the rail opened up. I wasn't nervous, I was excited. Nobody knows my horse like I know my horse.”

Reed and his wife Kay tragically lost 23 horses when their Mercury Training Center went up in flames near Christmas time back in 2016. Reed's only other graded win came with Satans Quick Chick in the GII 2009 Lexus Raven Run S.

“A lot of people don't know who I am, but I was that far from beating Zenyatta in 2012,” Reed said with a laugh. “We've won a graded stake, now two. But we don't go out and buy the big horses. We just try to have a good-quality stable. We always perform well. Our percentages are always good, and we take care of the horse first. And the rest falls into place.

Reed concluded, “I never dreamed I would be here. I never thought I'd have a Derby horse. I never tried to go to the yearling sale and buy a Derby horse. So this was never in my plans. Everybody would love to win the Derby. I always would, but I never thought I would be here, ever. It's a horse race, and anybody can win. And the tote board doesn't mean a thing.”

Pedigree Notes:

So much has been written about the amazing up-and-coming sires with first 3-year-olds in this year's Kentucky Derby, but very little of that print has so much as mentioned Keen Ice, a son of Curlin who also has his first sophomores this year. And no wonder: while the Gun Runners of the racing world were making headlines, he was quietly plying his trade at Central Kentucky's Calumet Farm for $7,500. He stayed under the radar for much of his racing career as well, winning just three of 24 starts. But like his first-crop son, Rich Strike, he set the racing world abuzz with a shocking win and is best known for handing 2015 Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah his sole loss at three in a stunning renewal of the GI Travers S. In hindsight, Keen Ice was a far more substantial racehorse than just that signature win, as he also took the GII Suburban S. at five and placed in five other Grade I races, including the Belmont S. and the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Keen Ice's first crop has yielded 30 individual winners from 92 starters and, prior to Rich Strike's Derby, only one black-type winner and that was in Puerto Rico. His five other stakes performers were highlighted by Rich Strike's third in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S., with no other graded performances in sight.

The most striking thing about Rich Strike's pedigree is undoubtedly Smart Strike. Not only is he the sire of Curlin, he is also the sire of Gold Strike, the dam of Rich Strike, making the Derby winner inbred 3×2 to the Canadian Hall of Famer and son of Mr. Prospector. The late Lane's End sire was a Sam-Son product through and through, being out of U.S. and Canadian Broodmare of the Year Classy 'n Smart (Smarten), who was in turn out of flagship mare No Class (Nodouble). Smart Strike as a Grade I winner wasn't even his dam's best runner, an honor that belonged to his half-sister, Dance Smartly (Danzig), a Canadian Horse of the Year and a U.S. champion. Smart Strike was a two-time leading sire in North America.

Unbelievably, as a broodmare sire, Smart Strike has the distinction of having two of the four biggest longshots in history to win the Derby with Mine That Bird (Birdstone), who paid $103.20 in 2009, also out of one of his daughters. Rich Strike is his 144th stakes winner as a broodmare sire.

Rich Strike's 20-year-old dam was Canada's champion 3-year-old filly in 2005, the year she won the GIII Selene S. and the Labatt Woodbine Oaks. Gold Strike also faced the boys in the Queen's Plate, finishing third. She raced as a homebred for Richard A. N. Bonnycastle's Harlequin Ranches. Bonnycastle, who has a long family history in Canadian racing, is also affiliated with Cavendish Investing and he bred several of Gold Strike's foals in the Cavendish name. His last foal out of the mare was the unraced Stoney Miss (Birdstone) in 2015, soon after her Llanarmon (Sky Mesa) was a graded stakes winner for him, and he sold Gold Strike for $230,000 at Keeneland November that year while in foal to Llanarmon's sire. Calumet Farm was the purchaser.

Calumet is the breeder on record for the mare's 2016 foal, J and J O'Shea (Sky Mesa), who was unraced, and Gold Strike was subsequently sent to Calumet stallions. She got My Blonde Mary (Oxbow) in 2017–who was claimed for $5,000 after finishing third at Tampa Apr. 6–and Rich Strike in 2019. Bred to another Calumet sire, Ransom the Moon, Gold Strike was returned to the Keeneland November sale in 2019 and sold to Tommy Wente for $1,700. The Manitoba-bred mare has not produced a foal since.
–Jill Williams

Saturday, Churchill Downs
KENTUCKY DERBY PRESENTED BY WOODFORD RESERVE-GI, $3,000,000, Churchill Downs, 5-7, 3yo, 1 1/4m, 2:02.61, ft.
1–RICH STRIKE, 126, c, 3, by Keen Ice
1st Dam: Gold Strike (Ch. 3yo Filly-Can, GSW, $564,500), by Smart Strike
2nd Dam: Brassy Gold, by Dixieland Brass
3rd Dam: Panning for Gold, by Search for Gold
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O-RED TR-Racing LLC; B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Eric R Reed; J-Sonny Leon. $1,860,000. Lifetime Record: 8-2-0-3, $1,971,289. *1/2 to Llanarmon (Sky Mesa), GSW, $378,954. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: First SW this cross.
2–Epicenter, 126, c, 3, Not This Time–Silent Candy, by Candy Ride (Arg). 1ST G1 BLACK-TYPE. ($260,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Westwind Farms (KY); T-Steven M Asmussen. $600,000.
3–Zandon, 126, c, 3, Upstart–Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause. ($170,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Jeff Drown; B-Brereton C Jones (KY); T-Chad C Brown. $300,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3/4, 2. Odds: 80.80, 4.10, 6.10.
Also Ran: Simplification, Mo Donegal, Barber Road, Tawny Port, Smile Happy, Tiz the Bomb, Zozos, Classic Causeway, Taiba, Crown Pride (Jpn), Happy Jack, Messier, White Abarrio, Charge It, Cyberknife, Pioneer of Medina, Summer Is Tomorrow. Scratched: Ethereal Road, Rattle N Roll. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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