Tag: Rich Strike

Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Sonny Leon is moving his tack to Gulfstream Park. He's returning to the US track he began his career on in 2015. (Image: Coady Photography)

Derby-Winning Jockey Sonny Leon Moves On Up to Gulfstream Park

When Sonny Leon came to the United States from his native Venezuela in 2015, the first place he put down his tack was Gulfstream Park. After winning his first race in only his fourth start, Leon went 3-for-his-next-67. He became an afterthought on the competitive South Florida circuit. An afterthought […]

Jack Christopher's Grade 1 Woody Stephens victory was one of the highlights of Belmont Park's 2022 Spring/Summer Meet. One of the most lucrative meets had a rise in average daily handle and a drop in overall handle from 2021. (Image: NYRA Photo)

Mixed Messages Define Belmont Park’s Spring/Summer Handle

First, the good news for Belmont Park and its just-concluded Spring/Summer Meet. The track enjoyed a 2% increase in average daily handle over 2021. The average daily handle came in at $13,437,509 for the 44-day meet that ended Sunday. According to the New York Racing Association, the average daily handle […]

What a winning Pick 5 ticket looks like. OG News' Brian Robin hit this on Canterbury Park's Northern Stars Turf Festival June 22. (Image: OG News)

The Highs and Lows of Being a Horseplayer, Pick 5s to Derby Downers

This spring, I endured the true ups and downs of being a horseplayer, which – as anyone who has ever placed a bet on the creatures who can’t explain themselves can attest – is a true manic-depressive exercise. First, the manic. Last week, I enjoyed one of the biggest highlights […]

Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard Mo Donegal punctuates their Belmont Stakes victory Saturday at Belmont Park. Mo Donegal's victory gave trainer Todd Pletcher his fourth Belmont Stakes title. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA Photo)

Getting His Mo On, Favorite Mo Donegal Captures 154th Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes was the race Mike Repole wanted more than any other. It was the race the entrepreneur he called “his Kentucky Derby.” The race the native New Yorker loved so much that he watched the replay numerous times of his best finisher in the race: Stay Thirsty, in […]

Trainer Rodolphe Brisset puts We the People through his Friday morning paces at Belmont Park. He is the 2/1 morning line favorite to win Saturday's 2022 Belmont Stakes. (Image: Skip . Dickstein)

Breaking Down the 2022 Belmont Stakes: Taking Constitutional Law 101

The first thing you need to remember about the Belmont Stakes is forget the long-believed idea the “Test of the Champion” is easy for closers to pass. It isn’t. It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Send horses 1 ½ miles – the longest distance any of them will ever run and […]

We the People skipped his way to a 10 1/4-length victory in the Peter Pan Stakes. He is the 2/1 morning line favorite for Saturday's 154th Belmont Stakes. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

We the People Established as Belmont Stakes’ 2/1 Favorite

While Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike has taken all of the attention over the past two weeks, We the People took 2/1 morning line favorite status for the Triple Crown’s final jewel. Post positions were drawn and morning line odds established for Saturday’s 154th Belmont Stakes. That 1 1/2-mile “Test […]

Rich Strike enjoys a bath from groom Jerry Dixon Jr. after arriving at Belmont Park Tuesday morning. The Kentucky Derby champion will go through paddock schooling, then informally work out in the afternoon. (Image: Adam Coglianese)

Derby Winner Rich Strike Arrives in New York for Belmont Stakes

Rich Strike arrived at Belmont Park today, 10 days before the 154th Belmont Stakes. The surprise Kentucky Derby winner took a trot around the dirt training track before heading to the barn for a long nap. The Derby winner, along with exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes and outrider Juan Galvez and […]

Kentucky Derby champion Rich Strike had his first workout since winning the May 7 Run for the Roses the same day as the Preakness Stakes his connections passed. He will have one more Churchill Downs workout before going to New York for the Belmont Stakes. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Derby Winner Rich Strike Returns to the Track — For a Workout

As he watched his biggest meal ticket work out Saturday, Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed cast a figurative eye East toward Pimlico Race Course. Then, he answered the question of many fans wondering why he wasn’t there, running the second jewel of the Triple Crown — the Preakness Stakes. “Skipping […]

Early Voting (5) held off Epicenter (8) and Creative Minister (6) to win the 147th Preakness Stakes. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Early Voting Finds Target, Punches a Winning Ballot in Preakness Stakes

Chad Brown wanted Early Voting to have “a target” in the 147th Preakness Stakes. He wanted the lightly raced, but fast colt to go out fast – but he wanted someone else to go out faster. And Armagnac obliged. The California colt wasted no time taking the lead, providing Early […]

Sonny Leon and Rich Strike won't repeat this iconic image in the Preakness Stakes. The owner of the horse decided to pull the Kentucky Derby winner from the May 21 Preakness and wait for the Belmont. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

No Triple Crown This Year; Rich Strike Out of Preakness

Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike had the plug pulled on a possible Triple Crown run when his connections decided Thursday to bow out of the 147th Preakness Stakes. Instead, they will follow their original playbook and wait for the Belmont Stakes. Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, said all along the […]

Now that he's in the 147th Preakness Stakes, Epicenter will be the presumptive favorite -- even after his Kentucky Derby runner-up finish. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Kentucky Derby Runner-Up Epicenter Heading to Preakness

Epicenter’s connections were looking for a sign that the Kentucky Derby runner-up wanted a piece of the horse — Rich Strike — who upset him last Saturday. After receiving that sign during a Wednesday training session at Churchill Downs, Epicenter will run in the 147th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race […]

Lindsay Schanzer took the reins as senior producer of NBC Sports' Kentucky Derby coverage this year. She became the first woman to produce a Kentucky Derby. (Image: NBC Sports)

NBC Strikes Viral Gold with Replay of Rich Strike’s Kentucky Derby Win

If you watched NBC Sports’ overhead shot of Rich Strike’s remarkable ride to the 148th Kentucky Derby title, you had plenty of amazed company. The replay of that performance, with Larry Collmus’ call, has been viewed more than 38 million times across various social media platforms. When NBC released its […]

Epicenter did everything right except win Steve Asmussen his first Kentucky Derby. The 4.10/1 favorite adn Derby runner up is questionable for the Preakness Stakes. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Derby Aftermath: Stunned Asmussen, Preakness Probables

Still trying to process how his Kentucky Derby futility streak hit 24 races, trainer Steve Asmussen was non-committal on whether Derby runner up Epicenter would run the May 21 Preakness Stakes. The two-time Preakness winner was very committal on his level of disbelief at what transpired 50 yards from his […]

Newly minted Kentucky Derby champion Rich Strike and his barn connections are headed next to Pimlico for the Preakness Stakes in 13 days. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed Hasn’t Woken Up From Derby Dream

Everything kept going back through Eric Reed’s mind like a never-ending dream, which the trainer of Rich Strike still wasn’t sure about. “I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Reed, still in shock over Rich Strike’s 80/1 shocking victory in the 148th Kentucky Derby. “At 4 this morning, I was wondering […]

Rich Strike (right) passes favorite Epicenter with 50 yards to go to win the 148th Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs. At 80.80/1, Rich Strike pulled off the second-biggest upset in Derby history, trailing only Donegal's 91/1 shocker in 1913. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Rich Strike Bowls Over Rivals in Stunning 80/1 Kentucky Derby Upset

Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, nearly lost his entire stable in a barn fire. He got Rich Strike – a $30,000 claimer with one career win in seven starts — into the 148th Kentucky Derby with five minutes to spare Friday. When he left Post 21 at Churchill Downs, Rich […]

(Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Breaking Down the 2022 Kentucky Derby: Chaos Theory Reigns

Welcome to Kentucky Derby 148, a.k.a. The Chaos Derby. And we’re not talking about the usual infield escapades that happen as the Derby returns to it’s pre-pandemic crowds north of 150,000. Unpredictability? Depth? A Derby where surprises almost wouldn’t be surprising? This edition of America’s most popular race has it […]