80-1 long shot entered at last minute due to another horse scratch wins.
Starts on outside, Jockey weaves through traffic and takes lead in final seconds.
Kentucky Derby 2022
Re: Kentucky Derby 2022
This horse was not even in the race as of yesterday. Another horse was pulled out only one day in advance, making room for Rich Strike. This was his second win ever and his eighth race. His jockey had never rode in the Derby before. His trainer had never had a horse anywhere near Derby-level before. He nearly quit the racing business entirely after 23 of his horses were killed in a barn fire.
These guys were up against trainers with dozens of Derby starters, people who are buying horses with expensive bloodlines and putting a lot of money and calculated effort into producing the best Derby hopeful possible and putting them under top-level jockeys. Meanwhile Rich Strike had no fancy pedigree and was never intended to be a household name, just a solid runner in races most people would never hear about.
It's mind-boggling that there are people who try over and over to win this race every year, spending enormous amounts of money trying for the perfect horse, only to get beaten by a nobody horse with an undistinguished trainer because everything worked out just right for them. It's a stereotypical underdog story on an absolutely ridiculous scale. This is the second-biggest Derby upset ever - the biggest was in 1913.
Edit: Slight correction, Rich Strike does have good bloodlines, but was claimed at a previous race rather than sold at auction - claiming races are generally considered to be for “low quality” horses.
These guys were up against trainers with dozens of Derby starters, people who are buying horses with expensive bloodlines and putting a lot of money and calculated effort into producing the best Derby hopeful possible and putting them under top-level jockeys. Meanwhile Rich Strike had no fancy pedigree and was never intended to be a household name, just a solid runner in races most people would never hear about.
It's mind-boggling that there are people who try over and over to win this race every year, spending enormous amounts of money trying for the perfect horse, only to get beaten by a nobody horse with an undistinguished trainer because everything worked out just right for them. It's a stereotypical underdog story on an absolutely ridiculous scale. This is the second-biggest Derby upset ever - the biggest was in 1913.
Edit: Slight correction, Rich Strike does have good bloodlines, but was claimed at a previous race rather than sold at auction - claiming races are generally considered to be for “low quality” horses.
Re: Kentucky Derby 2022
Rich Strike's sire, Keen Ice, is a well bred grade 1 winner (grade 1 races are the sport's highest level races and his grade 1 win came by beating Triple Crown winner American Pharoah). He is a very young sire, his oldest foals are just 3 years old, and Keen Ice's sire is Curlin who was not only one of the best racehorses of the last 30 years but is among the best stallions in the world, his stud fee is $175,000. Rich Strike's dam was a Canadian champion filly and comes from a prestigious female family. Rich Strike just elevated Keen Ice because it's incredibly rare for stallions to produce Derby winners with their 1st crop. Also, Rich Strike was bred by Calumet Farm. They're the New York Yankees of the American horse racing world. Rich Strike was the 10th KY Derby winner bred by the farm which is by far the record for breeders.