Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike worked at Churchill Downs on Monday, Aug. 1, breezing five furlongs in 1:01 flat in preparation for the Grade 1 Travers Stakes on Aug. 27.
“He was very relaxed afterward,” trainer Eric Reed told the Daily Racing Form after the work. “Didn't take a deep breath, hardly drank any water. He was like, 'Yeah, no big deal.' I'm really pumped. I'm feeling a lot better about the work afterward than I was before.”
Rich Strike skipped the Preakness Stakes after his Derby triumph, then shipped to Belmont Park where he finished sixth in the third leg of the Triple Crown. Since then, Rich Strike has worked three times at Reed's training center, and Monday's work at Churchill was his first at the Louisville, Ky. track since the Belmont Stakes.
Reed said the colt will work once more at Churchill before shipping to Saratoga for the Travers, where he will have his final pre-race breeze.
Among the rivals Rich Strike may face in the Travers are: Epicenter, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and recent winner of Saratoga's G2 Jim Dandy; Arkansas Derby and Haskell winner Cyberknife; Zandon, third in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Jim Dandy; Charge It, the 23-length winner of the G3 Dwyer; and Artorius, winner of the Curlin Stakes.
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
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