Rich Strike Wins Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs

Rich Strike, owned by Richard Dawson's RED TR-Racing, pulled off the second biggest upset in the history of the Run for the Roses by rallying along the inside to catch favored Epicenter in deep stretch to win the 148th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby (GI) presented by Woodford Reserve by three-quarters of a length.

Trained by Eric Reed and ridden by Sonny Leon, Rich Strike covered the mile and a quarter in 2:02.61 over a fast track and produced an upset second only to Donerail's triumph at 91-1 in 1913.

Summer Is Tomorrow set the pace while being track by Crown Pride (JPN) through fractions of :21.78, :45.36 and 1:10.34 as Epicenter set up in midpack along the rail with Zandon tracking right behind him.

On the far turn, Epicenter with Joel Rosario began to close in on the leaders who had been joined by Messier with Zandon and Flavien Prat moving behind Messier.

At the top of the stretch, Epicenter and Zandon both attacked with three- and four-wide moves to shoot to the front at the three-sixteenths pole.

Behind them, Leon was working out a beautiful trip on Rich Strike, who had started from post 20.

After the break, Leon immediately took Rich Strike toward the inside where he raced between horses in the run down the backside. On the far turn, Rich Strike maintained his inside position and carried that into the stretch.

Nearing the eighth pole, he came off the rail to split the tiring Messier and Crown Pride for clear sailing and ran down the leaders in the final 50 yards.

The winner's share was $1,860,000 and improved Rich Strike's earnings to $1,971,289 with a record of 8-2-0-3.

Rich Strike is a Kentucky-bred son of Keen Ice out of the Smart Strike mare Gold Strike who was bred by Calumet Farm and claimed by Reed for $30,000 last September at Churchill Downs after winning a 1-mile maiden race by 17 ¼ lengths.

Rich Strike returned $163.60, $74.20 and $29.40. Epicenter returned $7.40 and $5.20 with Zandon finishing another three-quarters of a length back in third and paying $5.60 to show.

It was another 2 lengths back to Simplification, who was followed in order by 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 and Summer Is Tomorrow.

Eric Reed, trainer of Rich Strike (First) - "He passed them all. 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."

Steve Asmussen, trainer of Epicenter (Second) - "I can't believe it after Epicenter's effort. And, the scenario in which I went 0 for 24, you couldn't make up. I got beat by the horse that just got in."

Chad Brown, trainer of Zandon (Third) - "We really had a great trip. Epicenter was in front of us closer to the pace and Flavien (Prat) really just followed Joel (Rosario) all the way. Turning for home he was in a great position and was really battling with Epicenter. (Rich Strike) just snuck up our inside and we were third best."

Antonio Sano, trainer of Simplification (Fourth) - "We were pretty far back early but he made a huge run. We're very proud about the effort."

Todd Pletcher, trainer of Mo Donegal (Fifth), Charge It (17th) and Pioneer of Medina (19th) - "Mo Donegal all but lost it at the gate. That's the second year in a row that's happened to us, even though that new gat gets them further off the rail. But to his credit, he kept trying to the end. Charge It got in a good spot, he came under a drive at the three-eighths pole but that was it. Pioneer of Medina got hot in the paddock. I didn't get much of a line on him in the race.

John Ortiz, trainer of Barber Road (Sixth) - "We still need more ground. I always thought he was a Belmont horse. We knew we had to go wide. Traffic is what we had to avoid. It was awesome. I love the effort. I love what Reylu (Gutierrez) did. I couldn't be happier right now."

Brad Cox, trainer of Tawny Port (Seventh), Zozos (10th) and Cyberknife (18th) - "Tawny Port finished up OK; Cybernife super disappointed; Zozos was too close to the hot pace. No doubt that was a really hot pace. I'm not sure where this horse was he must have been in the back somewhere. No matter how good you look breezing or in the mornings, you have to have the right setup. And this horse had the right setup today. We'll live to fight another day."

Kenny McPeek, trainer of Smile Happy (Eighth) and Tiz the Bomb (Ninth) - "What a crazy Derby. I'll have to watch the replay and see how it all unfolded."

Brian Lynch, trainer of Classic Causeway (11th) - "It was not the cleanest break and he got shuffled back. It was a roughly run race and Julien (Leparoux) could never get a run going. We'll regroup and give him some time to recover. But certainly the Preakness is not in our plans."

Tim Yakteen, trainer of Taiba (12th) and Messier (15th) - Couldn't be reached for comment.

Koichi Shintani, trainer of Crown Pride (13th) - Couldn't be reached for comment.

Leondro Mora, assistant trainer of Happy Jack (14th) - "Rafael (Bejarano) told us that his tail got caught in the back of the gate when he was fussing before the start. Thank goodness they backed him out and when they released the back gates, his tail came free."

Saffie Joseph Jr., trainer of White Abarrio (16th) - "He made it out in one piece. It's hard but that's racing. An 80-1 shot winning, unbelievable. Congrats to them."

Bhupat Seemar, trainer of Summer Is Tomorrow (20th) - Couldn't be reached for comment.

Sonny Leon, jockey of Rich Strike (First) - "You know we had a difficult post but I know the horse. 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."

Joel Rosario, jockey of Epicenter (Second) - "Everything was perfect. We thought we were home. Too bad that horse got us right at the end. I thought Epicenter ran a tremendous race. He did everything. He responded when I asked him. We ran too good to get beat."

Flavien Prat, jockey of Zandon (Third) - "To be honest, when I got next to Epicenter, I thought I was good to win it. I had a good trip. At the eighth pole, I thought I was going to be a winner. Epicenter fought back on me."

Jose Ortiz, jockey of Simplification (Fourth) - "When I wanted to run I had room to run. I had a perfect trip."

Irad Ortiz Jr., jockey of Mo Donegal (Fifth) - "I didn't have the best break out of there. I worked out my trip, and my horse ran great."

Rey Gutierrez, jockey of Barber Road (Sixth) - "He ran well. We saved ground the first turn and took a chance on the final turn by going really wide. I was hoping it would help him get there but it didn't give us the result we wanted."

Ricardo Santana Jr. jockey of Tawny Port (Seventh) - "I can't ask for a better trip. I had a good trip but he got tired. He came back pretty quick from his last race. The extra distance next time could help."

Corey Lanerie, jockey of Smile Happy (Eighth) - "I had a good trip. Broke clean and had a smooth run through the first turn. I was right with Epicenter when we came to the quarter pole. I popped out to try to go around but just didn't have enough horse. He gave out on me a little bit, so just maybe the distance."

Brian Hernandez Jr., jockey of Tiz the Bomb (Ninth) - "We didn't get away from the gate as cleanly as we would like. We ended up a little further back. He ran a pretty good trip, he grinded it out and picked up half the field late."

Manny Franco, jockey of Zozos (10th) - "The pace was hot. I was right where I wanted to be. The other horses were better than him today."

Julien Leparoux, jockey of Classic Causeway (11th) - "We missed the break a little bit, but there was some pace in front so I was kinda happy anyway to be where I was. He traveled beautifully and gave me everything he had."

Mike Smith, jockey of Taiba (12th) and Messier (15th) - "He was a little bad with the dirt (being kicked in his face) but it is what it is. He didn't embarrass himself."

Christophe Lemaire, jockey of Crown Pride (13th) - "Early on it was quick. He took good position easily and I could hold him very well. He gradually got tired and couldn't pick up at the end."

Rafael Bejarano, jockey of Happy Jack (14th) -"My horse was good in the beginning but somehow his tail got trapped in the gate and he started acting crazy. He tried to flip out and then they had to back him out."

Tyler Gaffalione., jockey of White Abarrio (16th) - "He jumped great. Then the first sixteenth we got squeezed back and then he was fighting the kickback and I got caught wide both turns. He made a good run just kinda got tired out."

Luis Saez, jockey of Charge It (17th) - "He ran good. He's still a baby. He broke pretty nice and when we came to the top of the stretch, the other horses were too good."

Florent Geroux, jockey of Cyberknife (18th) - "I broke super sharp and was in a great position. I only thing I can think of that the pace was very hot and I was up close. I was saving ground on the first turn but he didn't run his race."

Joe Bravo, jockey of Pioneer of Medina (19th) - "He'll have better days to shine."

Mickael Barzalona, jockey of Summer Is Tomorrow (20th) - "He's a perfect six- to seven-furlong horse. Today, we got pressure early on and the backstretch and I couldn't save him (his speed) as I did in Dubai last time."