That storyline describes the long-shot career of Rich Strike, who upset the GI Kentucky Derby at 80-1 back in 2022.

But it also could be the 2024 script for newly crowned stakes victress Everland (Arrogate), who was haltered for $30,000 out of a trip-troubled win at Turfway three months ago, and on Mar. 23 captured the Bourbonette Oaks over the same Tapeta surface. The purse of that stakes was worth 10 times the gray filly's claiming price, and, just as importantly, the race awarded 50 qualifying points to get into the GI Kentucky Oaks.

Everland's trajectory is only part of the narrative. Her rise through the ranks is a testament to the upward arc of trainer and co-owner Eric Foster, 46, whose 15 wins are currently tops at the nearly concluded Turfway meet.

Foster's $828,364 in earnings for the season there are second behind only perennial powerhouse conditioner Brad Cox.

Foster Family Stables has been in business for a decade. Eric runs a 16-acre farm with a training track in rural Utica out in western Kentucky, about 45 minutes southeast of Ellis Park. Eric trains, exercises and transports the horses to the races while his wife, Brooklyn, manages the barn. The couple tag-teams, along with some help from their children and an on-track team of assistants, on everything else.

“Me and my wife, we work together. We talk together all the time about [the business],” Foster told Jennie Rees in a post-win video interview for the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protestive Association (KHBPA).

“It's just exciting to win. I tell everybody, we're still happy to win a $5,000 claimer. And to win these bigger races…” Foster's voice trails off in thought, and he has to take a moment to keep his emotions in check.

“I mean, we're leading this meet right now,” Foster said. “It wasn't  even something we had thought about going in [to the start of the season]. Of course, we would want to [be a top stable] if we could, [but] it seems that we've had a little bit better go here than we even expected.”

As a kid, Foster excelled in barrel racing. Then by 17 he was galloping and exercising Thoroughbreds. He initially took out his training license in 2000, but his first foray as a conditioner at smaller tracks like Fairmount, the Woodlands, Ellis, and River Downs lasted only a year, with a 6-for-59 record and a hard-won appreciation for just how difficult a vocation training racehorses could be.

Foster then worked construction jobs as a welder, taking on whatever work he could, which eventually allowed the couple to buy their house and farm on Highway 431 outside of Owensboro.

According to a 2022 profile in The Gleaner that was written by Rees, Foster initially raised cattle, built a barn, and bought a Thoroughbred baby with the intent of re-selling at a subsequent auction. After determining that it might end up being more cost-effective to race the horse themselves, Foster constructed the training track, taking on most of the job himself.

As his training business grew from 2014 onward, Foster got financial backing from a diverse number of clients, including those who would eventually partner with him to own Everland (Bill Wargel, Sidney Karmia's Maxis Stable, and R.K. Eckrich Racing).

Foster began honing a reputation as a trainer who could spot horses who could be acquired for comparatively short money via claims and at the sales, then get those Thoroughbreds to outrun their purchase prices.

Kitodan (Point of Entry) is a prime example. In a partnership with Douglas Miller, Foster Family Racing claimed that gelding for $80,000 in May of 2022, and the 5-year-old has responded with two grass stakes victories (one a Grade III), plus a handful of other stakes performances in which he was only beaten by a couple of lengths. Kitodan was named the KHBPA claimer of the year for 2022, his career earnings have since swelled to $835,237, and is he still competing in graded stakes (he finished eighth on Saturday in the GIII Kentucky Cup Classic).

“Now, we have all the supplies, all the tools,” Foster said. “We have the help now. We have the confidence. We have the [better] jockeys. You know, it's just a matter of everything coming together. We do the blankets and all the therapy that we can do on them to get the horses happy. But you've just got to have good horses, and I think we've just been blessed with some good horses lately.”

Everland is being pointed to her secured spot in the GI Kentucky Oaks on the first Friday in May | Coady

When Foster spotted Everland entered for a $30,000 tag on Dec. 30, 2023, he notified his partners to see who wanted in on what would eventually be a four-way deal. Bred by George Strawbridge Jr. and raced by Augustin Stable with trainer Jonathan Thomas, Everland to that point had been 0-for-3 in maiden special weight races at Kentucky Downs, Woodbine and Turfway. Her pedigree-by Arrogate out of a Tapit mare-stood out.

Off at odds of 6-5, Everland endured a horror trip to win, checking on the first turn of a mile race and then almost getting wiped off her feet in a far-turn scrum. After losing all momentum, she determinedly bulled her way between horses, then scooted up the rail to win by three-quarters of a length, with Turfway announcer Tony Calo exuding in his call about the filly's display of athleticism.

Everland next won a $50,000 starter-allowance for her new connections by 3 1/2lengths at 15-1 odds on Feb. 10. She was then fourth in the Mar. 1 $150,000 Cincinnati Trophy S., a race won by stablemate Maxisuperfly (Optimizer), who was bought by the Fosters for $18,000 as a Keeneland yearling.

In the Mar. 23 Bourbonette, Maxisuperfly set the pace while Everland got caught four wide around the clubhouse turn. Guided to the rail by Abel Cedillo, Everland threaded through on the inside. Turning for home, she briefly got caught on the heels of her tiring stablemate (who finished eighth), then freewheeled up the fence while fending off several fresh challengers, quickening nicely inside the final sixteenth to win by 1 1/4 lengths (82 Beyer Speed Figure).

Despite Everland's sky's-the-limit pedigree, Foster doesn't feel like he stole a hot prospect from the filly's former connections. In the winner's circle after the race, he expressed empathy for anyone faced with the difficult business decision of whether or not to drop a well-meant horse in class for a claiming tag.

“It's hard. You expect them to win, and when they don't you say, 'We've got to do something different,' and you give them three or four chances [before trying a spot that's] a little cheaper,” Foster said. “We do it too. And a lot of time, we're happy that we didn't lose [a claiming dropdown].

“I would have to think that they knew that they would probably lose her,” Foster continued. “A couple of my good horses are claims, and [the outfits I claim from] are good. I wouldn't ever tell anybody that I'm a better trainer. “[But I do] want to be that guy that has horses that run for a long time.

“It's usually the horse that does the running. I don't want to take a whole lot of credit,” Foster said. “We take care of them. We do the best we can. We vet them deep. We feed them good. We do everything to make the health of the horse better. And then it's up to the horse.”

Everland is now 3-0-1 with 237,093 in earnings from seven starts, and with 54 qualifying points, she ranks fourth on the Oaks leaderboard. She is safely in the race, and Foster indicated post-win that his connections intend to run in that Grade I spot–even though Everland has never raced on the dirt. In fact, Foster has never personally witnessed her step onto a non-Tapeta surface.

“Now I'm going to have the same question everybody else has,” Foster said. “If she can run on the dirt, they better look out. That's going to be the thing. We haven't trained her on the dirt. We've left her [at Turfway] since we claimed her. So we're going to move to Keeneland this week coming up and just see how everything goes, and get her on the dirt. And hopefully she loves it.”

Even though Foster is a meet-leading trainer and on the cusp of breaking through in one of the most prestigious races in Kentucky, he is still facing some smaller-outfit business issues, like stabling.

“You know, I don't want to call out anybody, but we don't get the stalls we put in for,” Foster said, alluding to the tight allotments at Churchill and Turfway. “We had the horses to put into them. I think we get taken advantage of a little bit for having our own farm and our own training center….

“We're going into the Oaks here. We wanted some stalls at Churchill coming into this spring, and I was just certain we would get stalls. But you know what? You never know…

Foster said he would have to “map out” a shipping or stabling strategy for Everland.

“I'm not going to take one horse up [to Churchill] and train up to the Oaks. It's going to be a bit of a challenge,” Foster said.

In case you haven't already figured it out, Foster doesn't shy from challenges.

“I make three, four trips a week sometime,” Foster said. “It's over a seven-hour round trip. A lot of those nights are back to back-to-back. I don't always get somebody to ride with me. I have friends that I get to talk to on the phone. Somebody said, 'Well, how do you not get tired?' And I said, 'You know, I just think about my horses.'

“I just go,” Foster added. “I don't start to complain.”

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It's not that Dawson is indecisive, it's more a matter of him reacting to what is a constantly changing situation.

“A few weeks before the sale we had made plans to ship him to Gulfstream Park to Bill Mott to prepare for racing,” Dawson said. “We decided to have him examined one more time at Rood and Riddle and have an ultrasound to play it safe. The previous ultrasound had been really good so we were confident. This ultrasound showed he had regressed in his healing of the suspensory ligament. We had almost replaced all the scar tissue and it seemed to be repaired. We canceled transportation the next morning to Florida.”

So they entered him in the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age sale as a stallion prospect. But Dawson was able to read the room. With Rich Strike coming off dismal performances in the GI Clark S. and in the GII Alysheba, his value as a sire prospect had never been lower.

“Throughout the process and up until a couple days before the sale, the gut feeling I had so far as Rich Strike becoming a stallion at this point in his career was that I was not going to get what I was hoping for,” Dawson said.

So it was on to Plan C., try to get him back to the races after all.

Under the advice of Dr. Larry Bramlage, Rich Strike has been, since exiting the sale, undergoing stem cell treatments aimed at healing the problems he's been having all along with the suspensory ligaments in his two front legs.

“After the sale I was thinking 'what am I going to do now?'” Dawson said. “I started checking options. I started further researching other options. We visited with Dr. Bramlage at Rood and Riddle and we talked about stem cell treatment. We were so close to getting him back before. If stem cells could bring anything to the party it could really make a difference. He's not terribly injured. He just has this on-going nagging-type issue and so we thought if we could get him healed he could race again and do so at a high level and win. That would make his stallion value a lot better. It's not a matter of dollars to me. I just want to get him into a situation where he has access to really good mares and therefore get him to a level playing field to produce great offspring. If you're covering mediocre or less-than-mediocre mares your stallion career is going to be pretty short.”

So the hope is that they can get Rich Strike over his problems and then turn him over to one of the best in the business in Bill Mott.

Rich Strike | Coady

“Bill Mott believes that if we can get him back to 100%, he can return to a similar level as his Derby race, his Travers, the Lukas Classic, races where he did really well,” Dawson said. “Bill doesn't think there's anything that can prevent him from doing that and I tend to agree.

“With the stem cell treatments, I talked to one trainer and owner and they'll tell you they had little or no success with stem cell treatments. Then others tell you they had a lot of success. If I can't get him healed and back to a point where he can withstand training and racing and being safe doing so then I will retire him. As long as I feel like we're improving his health, taking our time and giving him every opportunity to heal I'm all in favor for it. We have no time clock.”

Rich Strike remains at Margaux Farm, where all he is doing is walking and is not yet back under tack. Dawson is aiming for him to join Mott in April and begin serious training. Of course, that plan could go up in smoke if the vets don't like what they see from future ultrasounds. Dawson understands this plan is no sure thing, but believes it's the best possible route to take.

“All this means is that we're going to have a year off and haven't gotten beaten up,” the owner said. “In his age group, every time I look I see that someone else has been retired. The older class just gets smaller and smaller. My hope is that when he turns five, he'll be back in great condition and he'll be in great position. He can be older, bigger and better. I feel like if we get him back well and he could win a race or two will that will not only further his resume as a race horse, but it's also going to increase his value as a stallion. The risk is worth taking.”

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“After much consideration, I have revised my plan for Rich Strike (KY Derby Champ #148/2022) and will not enter him in Keeneland Sales auction on Friday, 11/17/23,” a statement from Dawson read.

“At this time Rich Strike will continue his stay and light exercise at Margaux Farm. I would like to thank my family, friends and the folks at Keeneland Sales for their support and guidance in this process. I will make further announcements at such time it deemed to be appropriate.”

Rich Strike, last seen finishing a well-beaten fifth in the GII Alysheba S. at Churchill Downs May 5, was subsequently transferred from the barn of trainer Eric Reed to Hall of Famer Bill Mott.

Dawson told TDN's Bill Finley in late September that Rich Strike was rehabbing from a tendon issue and could target the GI Pegasus World Cup Jan. 27.

He was consigned to KEENOV as Hip 4001A by Candy Meadows Sales, agent for RED TR-Racing LLC.

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Rich Strike last raced on May 5 when a distant fifth in the GII Alysheba S. at Churchill Downs. He was subsequently transferred from the barn of trainer Eric Reed to Hall of Famer Bill Mott.

“The bigger races we are pointing toward would include the Pegasus,” Dawson said. “That would be the first Grade I race we might go after, but he could race before that in a less-competitive race.”

Dawson said that shortly after the Alysheba, Rich Strike was sent to the Rood and Riddle clinic as a precautionary measure and it was then that it was discovered that he was suffering from problems with his tendons in both front legs.

“He's rehabbing from some issues he had with his front tendons, left front and right front,” Dawson said. “Both have recovered extremely well. Dr. Bramlage at Rood and Riddle did all the work. He's had ultrasounds, X-rays, etc. and he is doing really well. At times, his front suspensory tendons would get inflamed and get slightly damaged. They never tore but scar tissue built up in both legs. There was scar tissue where tendon fibers should have been. Through his treatment and exercise, certain feed, etc., that scar tissue started to reverse itself. It's been a long process but, basically, the tendons were able to get back to normal. We are very fortunate that he did not tear a tendon while training or running. I'm extremely happy that this was caught back in May.”

Rich Strike is currently under light training at Margaux Farm in Midway, Kentucky.

“He is jogging one day, galloping the next,” Dawson said. “We'll be there for another few weeks and at that point Bill Mott and I will discuss where we go from there. Due to his lengthy rehab and our choice to be very conservative and take our time with him so he could get back on track and so that we can give him every opportunity to come back at his best, we are looking at sometime in November for him to begin more serious training with Bill. Maybe we can catch a race in late December.”

It's been a rough go for Rich Strike since he won the 2022 Derby. He's gone 0-for-6 since and in his last two starts, the Alysheba and the GI Clark S., he was beaten a combined 25 lengths. But Dawson remains hopeful that Rich Strike can get back to the form that carried him to a shocking win in the Derby at odds of 80-1.

“We won't know more until we get him back in real training,” he said. “I'll trust Bill to inform me so far as where his skill level is. If he can return to that skill level he showed when winning the Derby, that would be fantastic. We'll see how he does and let him tell us what is next. If he can continue to run at a high level, we will continue to race him. If not, he'll retire and go to the breeding shed.”

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The company, which operates Pimlico Race Course, has confirmed to the TDN that it is giving strong consideration to moving the date of the GI Preakness S. so that it is run four weeks after the GI Kentucky Derby.

“We have discussed it internally and believe it's in the best interests of horses and horse safety to move the race four weeks after the Kentucky Derby,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Executive Officer of 1/ST Racing & Gaming. “This would give horses more time to recover between races to be able to run in the Preakness. Horse safety is more important than tradition. NYRA is aware and considering how this would impact the Belmont. Stay tuned.”

Butler said there would be no further comment at this time.

Should the date of the Preakness get changed, the next move will be up to NYRA, which hosts the GI Belmont. If the Preakness is moved to four weeks after the Derby that would mean that, unless NYRA also shifts the date of the Belmont, the Belmont would be run just one week after the Preakness. That may be exactly what happens.

“NYRA has concerns about fundamental changes to the structure of the Triple Crown. We have no plans to move the date of the Belmont Stakes,” said NYRA spokesperson Pat McKenna.

The current structure of the Triple Crown works far better for the Belmont than it does for the Preakness. With five weeks between the Derby and Belmont, a number of trainers pass the Preakness and go next in the Belmont.

Traditionally, the Triple Crown is run over a five-week period, with two weeks between the Derby and the Preakness and three weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. While that may be a long-standing tradition, it has clearly become an impediment to drawing horses to the Preakness because modern trainers are very reluctant to run their horses back within two weeks. In 2022, Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) skipped the Preakness and waited for the Belmont. This year, Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) was the only horse from the Derby to run back in the Preakness.

These developments have led to added support for changing the spacing of the races. Just last month, Tom Rooney, the president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, penned an editorial calling for the races be spread further apart. “The time has come in Thoroughbred racing for our own change, to modernize the timeline of the Triple Crown,” he wrote.

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You could make the argument that the diminutive, white-blazed chestnut with the endearing overbite has enjoyed one of the least-scrutinized post-Derby weeks of any winner in recent history. That's not so much because the spotlight on his accomplishment has dimmed. It has to do with overlapping waves of chaos commandeering the game like a searing mint julep hangover that won't go away.

Colleague Bill Finley wrote in this space last week about the seven horse deaths at Churchill Downs that overshadowed Mage's Derby score. That was followed a few days later by proponents and opponents of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) sparring in federal court, where the highlighting of racing's recent, grim headlines to prove points underscored a nasty turn in a two-year-old lawsuit that has no end in sight.

Additionally, Mage was eclipsed in the news by the colt who was favored to beat him, but had to scratch on the morning of the Derby with a foot bruise. That would be the 2-year-old champ Forte (Violence), who on May 9 was revealed to have failed a drug test at Saratoga last September, with the public kept in the dark the entire eight months afterward until the scoop was leaked to the New York Times.

Two days later, on May 11, Forte was disqualified from the GI Hopeful S. on the basis of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication positive. The case is under appeal, with the only certainty being that it, too, is likely to linger in the courts for a long, long time.

The same day as word of Forte's DQ broke, the connections of last year's underdog Derby upsetter, Rich Strike (Keen Ice), also got dragged into the headlines for a cringe-worthy cameo. The issue had nothing to do with the colt's 0-for-6 record since winning the first leg of the 2022 Triple Crown.

Rather, trainer Eric Reed informed owner Rick Dawson (via text) that he was resigning after the two failed to come to an agreement over–Are you ready for this?–a proposed movie deal. Reed's version of events is that he stepped away after Dawson gave him an ultimatum to either drop the project or get fired. Dawson's take is that he was being kept out of the loop on negotiations and that “things were done behind my back.”

Will “Richie” still be destined for the big screen? Destined for prolonged litigation seems more like it.

And finally, even though it managed not to percolate to the top of the news cycle last week, trainer Bob Baffert and Churchill Downs, Inc., were still trading court filings in Baffert's federal civil rights lawsuit against the gaming company that controls the nation's most important horse race. Yes, Baffert's two-year banishment from the Derby has come and gone, but the lawyering is far from done and the legal fight grinds on.

Separately, we still don't know the outcome of the appeal of Medina Spirit's betamethasone DQ from the 2021 Derby, which is what sparked both Baffert's ruling-off and the lawsuit. That's because the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission still hasn't adjudicated the appeal, 743 days after the test sample was drawn.

Bottom line? All this attention being deflected away from Mage lets him coast into Baltimore further under the radar than most Derby winners. Theoretically, that's great for the colt. For the sport as a whole, it's embarrassing.

The last four Derbies have all been dysfunctional to some degree. An inexplicable 80-1 winner was 2022's oddity. The in-limbo drug DQ appeal of Medina Spirit still clouds the 2021 Derby. The 2020 pandemic necessitated that year's Derby be run in September instead of May. In 2019, it was the DQ of first-across-the-line Maximum Security for in-race interference, the only demotion of a Derby winner for an in-race foul, and it too sparked a failed federal lawsuit.

Mage's trainer, Gustavo Delgado, had a peripheral role in that controversial 2019 Derby. He saddled the 71-1 Bodexpress, who, just like Mage, set sail for Louisville after running second in the GI Florida Derby.

The difference was that Bodexpress went into the Kentucky Derby while still a maiden. Nevertheless, he showed grit by pressing the pace and holding a forward position against far more seasoned horses before tiring and then dramatically checking out of action in the far-turn scrum that resulted in Maximum Security's DQ.

Delgado, who had saddled multiple Classics-level stakes winners in his native Venezuela prior to trying his luck with a stable in America in 2014, wheeled Bodexpress right back two weeks later, giving him his first starter in the Preakness. The colt went off at 20-1, but dislodged jockey John Velazquez at the start and careened around the track riderless before being safely corralled.

Because of his antics, Bodexpress became a social media sensation and something of a fan favorite. After a five-month freshening, he broke his maiden in Florida and subsequently won two allowance races.

In 2020, Bodexpress scored at 11-1 odds in the GI Clark S. at Churchill to cap off his racing career, while giving Delgado his second Grade I winner in the United States. That turn of events signaled better Triple Crown karma might eventually be in Delgado's pipeline.

The trainer's son and assistant, Gustavo Delgado, Jr., told TDN's Katie Petrunyak on Friday that his father initially scoffed at the $290,000 purchase of Mage at EASMAY last spring.

“He didn't like him because he's got parrot mouth,” Delgado, Jr., said. “I remember he looked at me and said, 'The next time you are buying a horse, send me a video first and don't buy a parrot mouth.' But I told him, 'Trust me, this guy can run.'”

Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Mage fits the profile of a Derby winner who might not be fancied as the favorite in the Preakness, where he'll face a wave of fresh competition. But he's now uncorked big moves on the far turn in two straight Grade I races, and as a light-framed colt, his way of going doesn't seem to impose the type of pounding that would be detrimental to firing right back in two weeks.

On Saturday, we'll find out if Mage can spare the sport a little of his upbeat mojo. Right now the game could use a touch of his no-drama, all-business vibe.

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Smile Happy shadowed heavily favored last-out GII New Orleans Classic S. winner West Will Power (Bernardini) from an outside second through early fractions of :24.30 and :47.80. The Lucky Seven Stable colorbearer struck the front beneath Brian Hernandez, Jr. off the turn for home and kept on finding down the stretch to keep GI Pegasus World Cup winner Art Collector (Bernardini) safe by two lengths. West Will Power stayed on for third.

Winner of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. beneath the Twin Spires as a 2-year-old, last term's GII Risen Star S. and GI Toyota Blue Grass S. runner-up made two previous starts this season at Oaklawn Park. Smile Happy kicked off his 4-year-old campaign with a smart victory in an optional claimer in the slop Mar. 16, and was most recently third as the favorite in the GIII Oaklawn Mile Apr. 1.

“I'm really not surprised,” winning trainer Kenny McPeek said. “He's tricky to deal with sometimes and the last couple of races, we've finally figured his number. We ran him back quickly at Oaklawn because he was difficult to train at Oaklawn. We got him back here and he's done everything right. But, we learned a value lesson in his last race at Oaklawn. He's a true alpha. He wants everything his own way. But, he can run like the wind. I'm really proud of him.”

It was another disappointing run from last year's monumental Derby upsetter Rich Strike, who was making his first start of the season in the Alysheba. He passed one rival home to finish fifth after trailing for most of the way.

“I'm unusually disappointed in the effort,” trainer Eric Reed said. “I'm not sure what's going on. I expected him to finish better. He was where he was supposed to be but he didn't fire at all.”

Pedigree Notes:

Smile Happy, a $175,000 KEENOV weanling and a $185,000 FTKSEL sale graduate, is one of three graded winners for Runhappy and one of 24 graded winners for broodmare sire Pleasant Tap. Smile Happy is the most recent produce from three-time winner Pleasant Smile, who brought $57,000 from Black Type Bloodstock at the 2014 KEENOV sale.

Friday, Churchill Downs
ALYSHEBA S. PRESENTED BY SENTIENT JET-GII, $600,000, Churchill Downs, 5-5, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:41.29, ft.
1–SMILE HAPPY, 118, c, 4, by Runhappy
   1st Dam: Pleasant Smile, by Pleasant Tap
   2nd Dam: Relax and Smile, by Relaunch
   3rd Dam: Bunch of Smiles, by Graustark
($175,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $185,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Lucky Seven Stable (Mackin); B-Moreau Bloodstock Int'l Inc. & White Bloodstock LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.. $368,280. Lifetime Record: GISP, 8-4-2-1, $1,019,890. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Art Collector, 123, h, 6, Bernardini–Distorted Legacy, by Distorted Humor. O/B-W. Bruce Lunsford (KY); T-William I. Mott. $118,800.
3–West Will Power, 120, h, 6, Bernardini–Wild Promises, by Wild Event. O-Gary and Mary West; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $59,400.
Margins: 2, 3/4, 8 1/4. Odds: 7.74, 3.84, 0.70.
Also Ran: Last Samurai, Rich Strike, Milliken. Scratched: Giant Game.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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But a new year and a new race bring new opportunities and a clean slate. Rich Strike will make his 4-year-old debut Friday in the GII Alysheba S., a day shy of a year and at the same track where he stunned the racing world with his 3/4-length win in the Derby. There's a lot of karma there, but karma isn't going to get him into the winner's circle. Reed knows this, but remains optimistic that Rich Strike will be competitive throughout the year in top-class races.

“He's smarter and he's stronger and he's more mature,” Reed said. “He knows what's going on. He's turned out to be what we expected at four, stronger and smarter. He's ready. Last year, he was running on adrenaline and raw talent. This year, he's had the chance to mature out. He's a better horse this year. I think he'll run well in all his races and if he doesn't, we will be disappointed.”

It's not that he was terrible last year after the Derby. He just wasn't good enough.

“Since the Derby, he ran well in every race except for the Belmont and I still say that was my fault,” Reed said. “In the Clark, he was sick and we had no knowledge of that beforehand. He always showed up. He was a head away from beating Hot Rod Charlie in the Lukas Classic and had he won, that would have ended a lot of the talk.”

Reed said the main problem Rich Strike will face this year is the same problem he faced last year. He has no early speed and can find himself in a hopeless position if the pace up front isn't fast. His Derby win came after there was a pace meltdown in which they flew through early fractions of :21.78, :45.36 and 1:10.34.

“He's not going to win a lot of races because of his running style,” Reed said. “Even when everything goes right, it's hard for him to win because of the way he wants to run. We want him to do good and I think he will. I don't know how many races he will win this year, but he'll have to find a way to put himself into the races a little earlier to win.”

The Alysheba is run at a mile-and-a-sixteenth and Rich Strike probably needs more distance. He'll also be facing a tough group of rivals. Art Collector (Bernardini) won the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, Last Samurai (Malibu Moon) has won a pair of graded stakes this year and West Will Power (Bernardini) is coming off a win in the GII New Orleans Classic. This may be the deepest group of older dirt males assembled so far this year. Rich Strike is 7-2 in the morning line, but that seems like an underlay.

“It's his first start back,” Reed said. “I don't have high expectations for a win, but it would be great if he did. We just need to get in the first start and get ready for his next start, the Stephen Foster. I think that's where our season will really start to take off.”

In the meantime, Reed said he plans to enjoy the week and treasure the memories. He said he has the same crew back from last year and they are going to gather for a barbecue on Thursday. Despite Rich Strike's losing streak, Reed is still focused on how great that accomplishment was one year ago.

“I do tend to relive it, probably a couple of times a week,” he said. “It's one of those things that will never go away. You have days when you get frustrated and then you take a step back and think about the Derby and everything is good.”

Everything would be even better if Rich Strike were to win another race, preferably a big one. Reed will give him his chances this year. No excuses. Now he just needs to show that he's good enough.

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Jockey James Graham began his mount's training session by breaking inside of an unraced 3-year-old workmate. Around the far-turn, after the Derby hopeful completed five furlongs in 1:00.20, fellow stablemate Giant Awakening (Mor Spirit) was waiting for him around the 5 1/2 furlong pole. Running in concert, Confidence Game finished his work around the sixteenth pole and galloped out an extra quarter mile.

“At first when I looked at the final time, I was a little disappointed,” Desormeaux said. “Then I got back to the barn and went through the splits and I had a renewed sense of confidence–for a lack of a better term. He really started to pick it up late in the work even when he went fast early during the work. The gate works at Churchill are timed when the doors open so if you take into account that during a race there is a little bit of a run-up before the timer starts, he worked really well. I was definitely looking to get a lot of out of the work and I think we accomplished that. He needed it.”

Owned by Don't Tell My Wife Stables and Ocean Reef Racing, the GII Rebel S. victor completed splits of :24.60, :36, :47.80, 1:00.20, 1:13 and 1:25.60, with a gallop out of 1 1/4 lengths in 2:05.80. Desormeaux opted to bypass Saturday's GIII Lexington S. at Keeneland to train up for the Derby and said the colt would likely work back next Saturday.

Confidence Game with a serious one-mile move in 1:38.20 from the gate. #KyDerby pic.twitter.com/QSCpkBTQne

— Kevin Kerstein (@HorseRacingKK) April 14, 2023

Rich Strike Looks To Return Soon

RED TR-Racing's Rich Strike (Keen Ice) continued to prepare for his 2023 debut by working five furlongs in :59.80 early Friday morning over a fast track at Keeneland for trainer Eric Reed.

With Gabriel Lagunes aboard, the 2022 GI Kentucky Derby champ posted fractions of :23.80, :47.80, :59.80 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.40.

“Gabe said he was perfect this morning and worked the way he did before the Derby,” Reed said of Rich Strike, who is nominated to the 92nd running of Keeneland's GIII Ben Ali S. on Apr. 22. “I want to get him as tight as I can before his first time out against horses that have been running. If all goes well, that will point him for the GI Stephen Foster.”

Reed said the Ben Ali is in the mix for the 2023 debut along with next Saturday's GII Oaklawn H. and GII Alysheba S. at Churchill on May 5.

“I'll talk it over with [owner] Rick [Dawson] the next couple of days,” Reed said. “The Alysheba is probably the most likely spot. He would work again in nine or 10 days, and it would be at Churchill Downs.”

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“I thought he worked good and finished strong,” trainer Eric Reed said. “We are looking here [1 3/16 Ben Ali] or Oaklawn [$1-million GII Oaklawn H. going 1 1/8 miles the same day]. We want to get the first one out of the way and then the [$1-million GI) Stephen Foster [S. on July 1]. We'll see how they come up.”

Runner-up in the GII Lukas Classic last October, Rich Strike was fourth behind Flightline in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic before coming home sixth in the GI Clark S. Nov. 25. Following a two-month break, he returned to the work tab at Reed's Mercury Equine Center in Lexington Jan. 21. Rich Strike has been working predominantly at Turfway earlier this winter.

Reed explained that he had initially looked at the Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Mar. 25 for Rich Strike's seasonal return, however, “he nicked a quarter [hoof area], and we didn't want to take chance that he might hit himself coming out of the gate.”

According to Reed, the ultimate goal for Rich Strike this season is the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Nov. 4.

“After the Foster, we are looking at either the Whitney or the Pacific Classic then back to Churchill for the Lukas Classic then the Breeders' Cup,” said Reed.

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