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Rich Strike ‘Looking Great’ After Derby Shocker

RED TR-Racing's Rich Strike (Keen Ice) left Churchill Downs around 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday to head back to his main base at trainer Eric Reed's Mercury Equine Center in Lexington as a GI Kentucky Derby winner.

“I couldn't sleep last night,” Reed said after achieving his first Grade I victory and second graded victory in a career that began in 1985. “At four this morning I was wondering if this was real or if it was a dream. I got home and my kids and their friends were there with champagne. I finally told them at 2:30 I had to go up to bed. I just kept seeing him in my head come up the rail.”

As the longest shot on the board in a field of 20 horses at 80-1, Rich Strike took advantage of a crafty ride from Sonny Leon to charge past Epicenter (Not This Time) and Zandon (Upstart) in deep stretch to pull off the second biggest upset in Derby history with Donerail at 91-1 in 1913 serving as the biggest longshot winner.

Next on the agenda most likely will be Reed's first trip to Pimlico and a shot at the GI Preakness S. May 21.

“That's probably the plan,” said Reed, who indicated Rich Strike would return to Churchill Downs to work over the track before deciding on the colt's next start. “I'm not going to do a whole lot with him and I don't like to run back quick. You get one like this in a lifetime and you have to protect him.”

A 17 1/4-length victory in a $30,000 maiden claimer at Churchill Downs last September had served as the only win on Rich Strike's resume until Saturday. A fourth-place finish in the John Battaglia Memorial S. and a third in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks gave Rich Strike 21 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and enough to land a spot on the also-eligible list when entries were taken Monday.

The defection of Ethereal Road seconds before scratch time Friday morning put Rich Strike in the starting gate.

“We were hoping and praying all week just trying to get there,” Reed said. “Then we went a step further than we could have dreamed.”

Despite breaking from post 20, Leon gave Rich Strike a ground-saving trip, immediately moving toward the inside behind a wall of horses shortly after the break and then cutting the corner at the top of the stretch.

“When I saw that move at the quarter pole, I told my dad [Herbert] that might get us on the board,” Reed said. “Then, I don't really remember what happened except my back gave out on me. I ended up on the ground before the horse even crossed the wire. All my friends and family just piled on top of me. He looks great this morning. He ate up everything last night and seems really good. He gains weight after every race and I don't think we've gotten to the bottom of him.”

As for Reed, it was a low-key night as he went back to Lexington where his wife Kay was overseeing the training center and 100 horses.

“My friends drank a lot but I didn't,” said Reed, who has horses entered this week at Horseshoe Indianapolis, Mountaineer and Belterra. “I was happy for my crew and so proud that they got to make the walk [over to the paddock for the Derby].”

Reed's story, coming back to win the Kentucky Derby with his first starter and a first-time Derby rider after a barn fire claimed 23 of his horses and all of his tack and equipment six years ago, is made for Hollywood. And if a movie could been made from this year's Run for the Roses, who would play Reed?

“Maybe Mark Wahlberg,” Reed said with a laugh. “He's short like me.”

One day removed from Epicenter's runner-up effort, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen was on the track alongside assistant Scott Blasi to continue their normal schedule of training. Epicenter exited the Derby in good order, according to the team.

“We'll just try and move forward. I haven't spoken with [owner] Ron [Winchell] yet but I will later and will figure out what we are going to do next,” Asmussen said.

Zandon was back at trainer Chad Brown's Barn 25 at Churchill Downs Sunday morning.

“We had a really good trip but just weren't able to get the job done,” Brown said.

Tami Bobo's Simplification (Not This Time) came out of his fourth-place effort “very well” according to trainer Antonio Sano.

“I was very happy with his race,” Sano said. “I am going to talk with the owner in the next two days and a make a decision on whether to go to the Preakness or to go home.”

Trainer Tim Yakteen was at Barn 37 Sunday morning to see how his two Derby colts–Messier (Empire Maker), who finished 15th, and Taiba (Gun Runner), who ran 12th–were doing the day after Kentucky Derby 148.

The report was good. Both 3-year-olds were none the worse for wear and would “live to fight another day.”

“My family [his wife, Millie Ball, and his two teenage sons] will be on a plane and headed back to California today,” Yakteen said. “I'm going to stick around for a while. There will have to be some decisions made in the next 48 hours about what's next for these two. Taiba is under consideration for the Preakness, but that call has yet to be determined.”

Reflecting on Messier's effort, he said, “I thought Johnny [Velazquez] rode a good race on Messier. I'm not sure, but maybe we have to consider distance limitations with him.”

In the case of Taiba, who was making only the third start of his career, Yakteen felt the horse was hindered by all the kickback he encountered, causing him to “climb some and be very uncomfortable.”

Also, he noted, “His lack of experience certainly could have played a role in the situation.”

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Derby Day Handle Up

A crowd of 147,294 witnessed Rich Strike's (Keen Ice) 80-1 upset in the 148th running of the GI Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Wagering from all-sources on the Kentucky Derby Day program totaled $273.8 million, a 17% increase over 2021 and up 9% from the previous record in 2019 of $250.9 million. Wagering from all-sources on the Kentucky Derby race totaled $179.0 million, up 15% over 2021 and up 8% from the previous record of $166.5 million set in 2019. This year's wagering record includes $8.3 million of handle wagered in Japan.

“We are deeply grateful to all of the fans of the Kentucky Derby around the world who once again made this an amazing and memorable experience,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI. “We expect the Kentucky Derby Week Adjusted EBITDA to reflect another record with $7 to $9 million of growth over the prior record in 2019.”

All-sources handle for Derby Week rose to a new record of $391.8 million, up 25% from 2021 and up 14% from the previous record of $343 million set in 2019.

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Sonny Shines Bright

It was an improbable outcome. No, make that an impossible outcome. But it happened. An 80-1 shot named Rich Strike (Keen Ice), who probably should have been 800-1, won the GI Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs.

But how? He benefitted from a pace meltdown, ran the race of his life and, most importantly, got one of the best rides in Derby history from a guy you probably never heard of. His name is Sonny Leon and he outrode Joel Rosario, Flavien Prat and a bunch of other guys who are in the Hall of Fame or will be some day. As they say, go figure.

“[Leon] gave him the greatest ride I have ever seen,” winning trainer Eric Reed said.

Here's what he did: Breaking from the 20 post, Leon made a beeline for the rail right out of the break. Horses from the 20 post are supposed to go five, six wide in the first turn. Leon, 32, had him in the two path. He was 17th down the backstretch and the jockey was patient, obviously realizing that a premature move would do him in. Rich Strike was motoring at the three-eighths pole and Leon had a decision to make. He could try to go around horses, which would have guaranteed a clear run to the wire, or he could take his chances and hope a hole would open up on the rail where he could save ground. He went inside, but Messier (Empire Maker) was in his way. Leon stayed calm and steered his mount around a tiring Messier. From there, with a clear path to the wire, Rich Strike ran like a wild horse. He won by 3/4 of a length over Epicenter (Not This Time) and 2021 Eclipse Award winning jockey Joel Rosario. On Zandon (Upstart), Flavien Prat was third.

After it was over, Jerry Bailey, arguably the best rider of his generation, was absolutely gushing about Leon.

“He did a fantastic job,” Bailey said on the NBC broadcast. “From the 20 post, he got to the inside on the first turn…It was a brilliant ride by Sonny Leon. You have to tip your hat to him.”

So, just who is Sonny Leon?

After trainer Eric Reed claimed Rich Strike from trainer Joe Sharp and breeder Calumet Farm out of a $30,000 maiden claimer back on Sept. 17 at Churchill, he rode Julien Leparoux in his next start. The result was a third-place finish. Then he went to Leon. With his new rider, Rich Strike was fifth in the Gun Runner S., third in the Leonatus S., fourth in the Battaglia Memorial S. and third in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks.

It might have been time to try someone else. Though he never could have gotten the likes of an Irad Ortiz Jr., a Luis Saez or a Prat to ride the horse, surely, he could have gotten someone else, someone who had a proven record in races like the Kentucky Derby. Nope. He went with Sonny Leon.

“Eric sold me on Sonny,” winning owner Richard Dawson said. “A month or so back we had a conversation, like most people. You're looking at options. And it was if you get in the Derby, are we going to stick with Sonny? He said, 'I want to stick with Sonny.' I I would never, ever change at that point. I said I may not change my socks, let alone my jock. I've watched Sonny ride a bunch. And his courage, his smartness on the track…I mean, he's athletic. Don't ever wrestle this guy because it's not going to be fun. He's our kind of guy.”

Or, maybe, Reed didn't bother to make a switch because Rich Strike was on the also-eligible list and didn't figure to draw in. We will never know.

“I knew this horse could do it if he found his way through the traffic,” Reed said. “That's why I had Sonny on him. He got us here.”

According to Equibase, Leon a native of Venezuela, has had 5,175 mounts in the U.S. with 769 winners. He made his riding debut in North America in 2015, when he won all of nine races. Prior to the Derby, he had never won a graded stakes race. His biggest wins had been in a trio of $100,000 races, the 2021 and 2020 runnings of the Best of Ohio Endurance S. and the 2021 Best of Ohio Cleveland Kindergarten S.

After coming over from his native country, Leon found his niche. He became a big deal on the Ohio racing circuit. He's won the last four riding titles at Mahoning Valley and was second in the standings at the 2021 meet at Belterra Park and third at the 2020 meet there. He warmed up for the Derby by riding five horses Friday at Belterra. In his last mount before the Derby, he finished second on the 7-10 favorite Elliot the Dragon (Kantharos) in a $26,400 Ohio-bred allowance. His last win before the Derby came in a $5,000 claimer.

That was on Tuesday at Belterra, another slow day at a slow racetrack with cheap horses. On Saturday, Sonny Leon was the king of the world–the most unlikely king of the world horse racing has ever seen. How can you explain such a thing?

“It's a horse race, and anybody can win,” Reed said.

Will this win, this sensational ride, be a launching pad to stardom for the Venezuelan?

“I want to enjoy this moment, and we'll see what happens tomorrow,” Leon said.

Leon said he's going to spend the next few days vacationing with his family in Tampa. Then it will be back to work, at Belterra, with the $5,000 claimers and the Ohio breds. Then there will be the GI Preakness S., where the pundits probably won't give this horse much of a chance. Won't be another pace meltdown like there was in the Derby, they will say. They'll probably be right. Leon's next winner will no doubt be back at Belterra in a race that doesn't matter all that much.

But he will always have the 2022 Kentucky Derby. It was his moment, his two minutes–2:02.61 to be exact–of fame. The horse did his part, but he never would have won if not for a perfect ride from his jockey. Good on you, Sonny Leon.

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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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