by Darcy Dean
This year, the Kentucky Derby took place on Saturday, May 7th. For those of you who watched the race, you already know that the winner had 80-1 odds and was not even expected to run until an unfortunate accident involving another competitor took place and this horse filled their spot.
The horse who won the Kentucky Derby was named Rich Strike and he overcame all of the obstacles that were placed in front of him, literally and figuratively.
First, a bit of background on this exceptional horse. Rich Strike’s sire, or father, is named Keen Ice, and Keen Ice’s father is Curlin, who is a very famous racehorse (I have actually had the opportunity to meet Curlin in real life). Rich Strike’s dame, or mother, is Gold Strike. Gold Stike’s mother is Smart Strike.
Rich Strike’s first race was on turf instead of sand at Ellis Park. Rich Strike came out of the gate slowly, and finished last. Rich Strike won his next race, which was a claiming race, which are basically when other trainers can try to buy your horse if they decide that they like them.
After this race, Rich Strike was bought by RED Tr-Racing, LLC. They sent him to a trainer named Eric R. Reed. Rich Strike raced in five races after that and was not remarkably successful in any of them. Then, he went to the grandest stage in horse racing: Kentucky Derby.
As I mentioned earlier, Rich Strike’s trainer was Eric Reed. Although it is not looking likely that this will occur now, there was a time, about six years ago, when Reed had actually thought that he would leave the horse business.
One night, a fire spread throughout one of his barns in Kentucky and killed 23 of his horses. Due to the encouragement and support of many of his friends - and even some strangers - Eric stuck with his horse training and today, he is the proud trainer of the winner of the 2022 Kentucky Derby.
Ethereal Road was the name of the horse that scratched from the Kentucky Derby due to the vague reason of he “just wasn’t ready.” This scratch happened on Friday, May 6th, just one day before the derby itself. Eric Reed and his team had come up a few days earlier to see if they would just get in by the skin of their teeth, and they just happened to.
Rich Strike started in gate 29 before the race - not a very good starting position. When the race began, Rich Strike started at the very back, and did not seem like he was going to be any competition at all with the two favorites of the race, Epicenter and Zandon.
Rich Strike did not actually kick in until the very end of the race when he came from absolutely nowhere on the inside of the rail. The two leaders never even saw Rich Strike coming! This amazing upset came as a total surprise to everyone including his trainer who fell down in his paddock when he saw what was happening on the track.
The Kentucky Derby is a great tradition that brings all kinds of people and horses together. Sometimes miracles happen, and horses who were never even given a second look end up winning one of the biggest races in the horse racing world. Rich Strike is a name that will truly never be forgotten, and he will go down in history as one of the greatest upsets ever in horse racing.
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