Rich Strike

Trainer: Eric Reed

Owner:

RED TR-Racing Jockey: Sonny Leon Best Beyer: 101 Record: 8-2-0-3

STRENGTHS: His Beyer Speed Figures have risen steadily since he returned from a layoff back in December, culminating in a shocking score in the Kentucky Derby. He was moving best of all 20 runners in the stretch in that first leg of the Triple Crown, including runner-up Epicenter, who was still strong in the lane. This colt was flattered when Epicenter returned to run a big race for the place in the Preakness. His breeding and running style suggest that this 1 1/2-mile distance should work to his advantage, as his paternal grandsire, Curlin, lost this race by a head in an epic race in 2007, and his dam, Gold Strike, won the nine-furlong Woodbine Oaks in 2005, when she also was third in the 1 1/4-mile Queen’s Plate.

WEAKNESSES: The only Beyers he has posted above 70 have come when he’s had the pace scenario in his favor, and that very much includes his Kentucky Derby win. The 1 1/2-mile Belmont presents a much different pace scenario, as there’s not nearly as much speed signed on and he doesn’t figure to have the luxury of a rapid pace to chase. He’s much more likely to regress off that 101 Beyer Figure than he is to move forward off it, and if he has to run down the speeds while behind a mild, controlled pace he could have his work cut out for him.

BETTING VALUE: Obviously has a big shot to win this, as it’s increasingly looking like that Derby win was no fluke, but it’s tough to take a short price on a horse likely to regress off a career-best figure, at least on the win end.

– Kenny Peck

SIRE: This is the first crop for the long-winded Keen Ice, who finished third to American Pharoah in this demanding 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes before defeating the Triple Crown hero in the 2015 Travers Stakes at 1 1/4 miles. Keen Ice is by the consistent classic sire Curlin, who himself finished a hard-fought second to champion filly Rags to Riches in the 2007 Belmont. Curlin sired a Belmont winner in his first crop with 2013 winner Palace Malice, and, in addition to Keen Ice, put another horse on the board in this longest American classic in 2017 with runner-up Irish War Cry. Curlin is, in turn, by the influential Smart Strike, giving Rich Strike two doses of that classic sire close up in his pedigree.

DAM: Manitoba-bred Gold Strike earned the Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2005, winning both the Woodbine Oaks and Grade 3 Selene Stakes routing on dirt prior to the Polytrack era at Woodbine. She also was third against males in the Queen’s Plate. She is the dam of four winners from five starters, including Llanarmon, winner of the Grade 2 Natalma at a mile on turf and the Carotene at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

OUTLOOK: Going into the Kentucky Derby, Rich Strike’s stamina-laden pedigree was one of the best attributes the longshot could boast. The upset Derby winner’s lines don’t give any cause for pause moving forward to 1 1/2 miles. This male line has plenty of success at this specific distance, and a solid female family backs it up.

– Nicole Russo