Rich Strike won the 148th Kentucky Derby in shocking fashion after entering the race at 80-1 odds.
“Long shot” doesn’t even begin to describe Rich Strike’s chances to win as the horse wasn’t even in the Derby field until Friday morning after another horse was scratched. Their team didn’t even get the news until around 30 seconds before the deadline to get in, but all they needed was a shot.
We found out about 30 seconds before the deadline on Friday. It put us in the race and really we always felt if we just got in we’ve got a shot.
Rich Strike was guided by jockey Sonny Leon and trained by Eric Reed. Once the horses were out of the gate, Rich Strike looked like every bit of those 80-1 odds as the horse trailed far back in the pack for the majority of the race.
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Then, with 4-1 favorite Epicenter dueling with Zandon upfront, Rich Strike found an inside path off of the last turn and charged up the rail to shock the world with a “stunning, unbelievable, upset victory.”
It was the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby’s 148-year history.
While the win was impressive on sheer numbers alone, an overhead view of the race really put the insanity of Rich Strikes upset win into perspective.
The upsetting moment alone is enough to carry any movie script, but all the small details alone are enough to guarantee that someone will flip this into one of those “never give up” films where the unthinkable becomes reality.
But for now, Rich Strike is enjoying the moment (and the $1.86M earnings for his second career victory) but the revenge probably tastes even better, as just last month the colt lost to 2022 Kentucky Derby favorite Epicenter in the Lousiana Derby.
Something tells me Rich Strike is all smiles now.
