Rich Strike Runs for the Roses: Owner increasing num ber of horses in stable

Rich Strike’s Run for the Roses

Owner increasing number of horses in stable

BY TIM FARLEY

Rich Strike won an improbable Kentucky Derby race in May, skipped the Belmont Stakes and finished sixth at the Preakness, but that’s hardly the end of his career.

Most recently, the Derby winner is prepping for the Travers Stakes Aug. 27 at Saratoga, New York, followed by a likely appearance at the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Keeneland Racecourse.

Owner Rick Dawson, of Edmond, isn’t sure how the horse will run but he’s hoping for a repeat of the Kentucky Derby, which surprised everyone in the stands and watching on television.

“He’s looking and doing great,” Dawson said of Rich Strike’s preparation for the Travers Stakes. “Every horse is subject to most things going right like getting a good trip and being able to run as planned. He’ll be right there at the end.” However, Dawson made it clear he wasn’t totally shocked by Rich Strike’s Derby performance.

“I felt if we could only get into the race we had a chance. We were an also eligible, #21 on (the) list, 20 horses get to run. Our horse was getting better and better each race leading up to the Derby,” he said.

Rich Strike

The work paid off for Dawson and Rich Strike who entered the race at 80-1 odds, which meant a huge payday for Dawson and few other lucky bettors, including Dawson’s friends at the Thunder Roadhouse off-track betting facility in Oklahoma City.

Dawson, who owns and races horses as Red TR-Racing, has appreciated a racehorse’s athletic ability and pure beauty for decades. The semi-retired oil and gas man started watching horse races in 1981 and became a horse owner five years ago. He started owning horses while on a fact-finding mission with another prominent breeder and owner from Oklahoma. In an interview after the Derby, Dawson told the Paulickreport.com, “I ran into Everett Dobson at Oak Tree National (Golf Club), where I live in Edmond, and started picking his brain about owning horses. I always liked going to the track, I’ve been doing that for 30-40 years. There is a great thrill in racing. I enjoy the handicapping, the studying, the problemsolving in wagering. I thought it was time to maybe own a horse. Everett invited me to a sale with him in Lexington, Ky., where I was able to shadow him and pick his brain about everything. When I left, I had become a small minority owner in five horses. I went there to observe and came away an owner.”

Dawson also told Paulickreport.com, “After a while I realized that if it was worth owning a horse, it was worth owning the horse 100%. I got out of the partnerships I was in and refocused.”

Since the Kentucky Derby, Dawson has purchased three younger horses.

“Time will tell if they turn out to be runners and at what level,” he said. “My hope is to always work hard to succeed and give my horses the best possible chance to win. Running in the Derby again would be a great thrill.”

Looking back a few months after the Derby win, Dawson said, “I’m still astonished that so many things had to happen just right in order for us to get into the race on Friday morning & then on Saturday, WOW, one of the greatest rides by a jockey, Sony Leon, and a complete race by horse, Rich Strike, I’ve ever seen, anytime or anywhere. Great effort by trainer, Eric Reed, and Reed Racing.”

Rich Strike became the first horse that was ever claimed out of a race, to then go on and win the Kentucky Derby. Dawson and Reed claimed the colt for $30,000 out of a race at Churchill Downs on Sept. 17, 2021.

Trainer Eric Reed was as surprised as anyone about the Derby win in his comments to Bloodhorse.com.

“Someone mentioned to me how Rich Strike is a modern day Seabiscuit,” he said. “The world has seen some hard times in the last few years during the pandemic and people have been under a lot of stress. Now, like in the 1930s with Seabiscuit, here comes this little trainer with a little jockey and a horse no one knows anything about

Left, Sonny Leon, Eric R Reed, Richard Dawson. Below, Rich Strike,

and they shock the world. He becomes a fan favorite and gives some people a lot of happiness after such horrible times. To me, that’s the best part of it.”

Meanwhile, Dawson believes Rich Strike’s heroic and almost-unbelievable Derby race will never be forgotten.

“He’s a wonderful athlete with a big personality. His story of coming from way, way back in the Kentucky Derby will be remembered for years.”

Most recently, the Derby winner was prepping for the Travers Stakes where he finished out of the money during the Aug. 27 race at Saratoga, N.Y. Now, Rich Strike and his team will now turn their attention to a likely appearance at the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Keeneland Racecourse. n

HORSE RACING IN KENTUCKY IS RICH,

dating back to 1789 when the first race course was laid out in Lexington. However, it was almost 100 years later, in 1875, that Churchill Downs officially opened and began its tradition as “Home of the Kentucky Derby.”

The founding of Churchill Downs began in 1872, when Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark traveled to England and France in 1872. Clark attended the Epsom Derby in England, which sparked his ambition to create a spectacle horse racing event in America. Upon his return to the states, Clark began the development of the racetrack, with intentions to showcase the Kentucky breeding industry that eventually became known as “Churchill Downs.”

The track was constructed on 80 acres of land that Clark leased from his uncles, John and Henry Churchill, approximately three miles south of downtown Louisville. To fund the initial construction, Clark raised money by selling membership subscriptions to the track. With 320 membership subscriptions sold for $100 each, Clark raised a total of $32,000. This profit was used to construct a clubhouse, grandstand, Porter’s Lodge, and six stables on site for the opening of the track. Throughout the years, the initial structures still stand, but the racetrack has continued to grow and modernize. Today, Churchill Downs spans 147 acres with its most significant structure being the Twin

A history

Spires, an architectural feature which sits atop the grandstand and has become the universally recognized symbol for Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby.

Churchill Downs had its first official race day, which formally opened the track on May 17, 1875. For the opening meet, Clark created three major stakes races- the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Clark Handicap. These were modeled after three premier races in England- the Epsom Derby, Epsom Oaks and St. Leger Stakes. The winner of the first race was Bonaventure; however the winner of the day’s featured race, the Kentucky Derby, was a three-year-old chestnut colt, Aristides. Owned by H.P. McGrath, Aristides was trained by and ridden by two African-Americans, Ansel Williamson and Oliver Lewis. A crowd reaching 10,000 spectators witnessed

the 15 thoroughbreds run the first 1.5 mile long Kentucky Derby. Aristides’ victory launched a tradition that has been held continuously at Churchill Downs annually since their debut in 1875.

Today, Churchill Downs Racetrack is owned and operated by Churchill Downs Incorporated. Churchill Downs currently holds the record for the longest-running, continuous sporting event in the United States. In 1875, the track’s inaugural meet reached nearly 10,000 spectators, unknowingly initiating an annual ritual that is now universally recognized bringing in record-breaking crowds of more than 170,000. With many changes over the course of three centuries, the Kentucky Derby is known to be the most exciting two minutes in sports. Following are some key dates of the Kentucky Derby. 1883 – Leonatus wins the Derby, and the name “Churchill

Downs” is first used to landmark the racetrack that is the home of the Kentucky Derby. 1889 – Bookmakers demand that Colonel Clark remove parimutuel betting machines, because they are cutting into the bookmakers profits. Spokane wins the Derby. 1894 – Due to the growing crowd size, a 285-foot grandstand is constructed to accommodate race fans. Chant wins the Derby. 1895 – The famed Twin Spires greet the Kentucky Derby crowd, on May 6th. Halma wins the Derby. 1896 – It is thought that the distance of the Derby race is too long for three year old Thoroughbreds that early in the spring, so the distance of the Derby race is shortened from one and a half miles to one and a quarter miles. Ben

Brush wins the Derby, and he receives a floral arrangement of white and pink roses. 1899 – Founder of the Kentucky Derby, Colonel Meriwether

Lewis Clark, commits suicide on Apri l 22, 1899, just twelve days before the 25th running of the Kentucky

Derby, where Manuel wins. 1903 – Now under the leadership of Colonel Matt J. Winn, the racetrack celebrates its first profit after the Kentucky

Derby on May 2nd where Judge Himes wins the race. 1904 – The red rose becomes the official flower of the Kentucky Derby and Elwood wins the race. 1908 – The use of pari-mutuel wagering machines is restored, and bookmakers are outlawed. The Derby day crowd bets a total of $67,570 of which $18,300 is placed on the Derby race alone. Stone Street wins the Derby. 1911 – The minimum bet is reduced from $5 to $2, and a betting booth is introduced. Two men are stationed in a booth to receive fans’ bets – one sells the wagering ticket, and the other operates a clicker to account for the number of tickets sold. Meridian wins the Derby.

1913 – The fees to enter a horse in the Derby and the Derby winning prize money are restructured. The new charges are $25 to nominate a horse for the Kentucky Derby and $100 for the horse to actually run in the race. With those collected fees, plus Churchill Downs adding $5,000 to the purse, the winning horse receives $5,475. Donerail wins the Derby, and becomes the longest shot to win. He pays $184.90 to win bets, $41.20 to place bets, and $13.20 to show bets. 1914 – Old Rosebud wins the Derby and sets a new track record, finishing the race in 2:03:04 and eight lengths ahead of the second place finisher. 1915 – For the third consecutive year, the Kentucky Derby splashes the news, as the first filly, Regret, wins the race.

This publicity establishes the Kentucky Derby as a premier sporting event in America, after its 41st running. 1919 – Sir Barton wins the Derby and is also the first winner of what would become the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred

Racing. In the span of just 32 days, Sir Barton won the

Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, the Withers Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. 1922 – Mor Vich wins the Derby and, in addition to the winning purse, he receives a gold buffet service piece including a cup and candlesticks. The prize is valued at $7,000 and is the first Derby presentation of its kind. 1924 – Black Gold wins the 50th running of the Kentucky

Derby, and he receives a trophy, exactly like the one presented today. 1925 – The first network radio broadcast of the Kentucky

Derby takes place on May 16th, with about 5 to 6 million listeners tuning in to hear Flying Ebony win the Derby.

Also, notable in the year, the phrase “Run for the Roses®” is coined by Bill Corum, a sports columnist for the New

York Evening Journal and the New York Journal - American. 1930 – Gallant Fox wins the Derby, and the term Triple

Crown is officially used by the New York Times to describe his combined wins in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness

Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. 1931 – The Kentucky Derby is permanently scheduled for the first Saturday in May, as opposed to an undetermined date in mid-May. The move was largely due to the popularity of the idea of a Triple Crown winner, and allowed for a consistent racing schedule for horses that would participate in the three races – The Kentucky Derby, followed by the

Preakness Stakes, followed by the Belmont Stakes. 1932 – Despite the Great Depression, the Kentucky Derby race continues to take place and has much to celebrate.

The race is internationally broadcast, reaching England’s

British Broadcasting Company, and the winner, Burgoo

King, is the first Kentucky Derby winner to be draped in a garland of red roses. 1938 – A tunnel is constructed under the racetrack that con-

nects the grandstand, spectator seats to the field inside the racetrack, called the “infield”. Admission is 50 cents to enjoy the Derby from the infield. Lawrin wins the Derby and he is the first to take to a stand built in the infield for the official presentation to the Kentucky Derby winning horse. 1943 – Regardless of the war-time travel restrictions from

World War II and no out-of-town tickets sold to the Kentucky Derby, 65,000 fans gather at Churchill Downs to see

Count Fleet easily defeat the field at 2-5 odds. 1949 – The 75th Kentucky Derby is locally telecast for the first time, and Ponder wins the Derby. 1952 – The public exposure of the Kentucky Derby is expanded with the first national live television coverage in its history. An estimated 10 to 15 million viewers tune in to watch Hill Gale win the Derby. 1954 – The Kentucky Derby winning purse exceeds $100,000, and Determine is the horse to cash in. 1966 – The famed “Millionaires Row” dining room is introduced, and Kauai King wins the Derby. 1968 – Dancer’s Image is the first Derby winner to be disqualified. Following the race, Dancer’s Image tested positive for an illegal medication, so the purse is taken from him, and awarded to the second-place finisher Forward

Pass, who is declared the winner. 1970 – Diane Crump is the first female jockey to ride in the

Kentucky Derby race. Crump finished 15th out of 18 horses in the field; and even though her Derby race wasn’t a win, she brought women to the forefront of horse racing. Dust

Commander wins the Derby. 1973 – In the 99th running of the Kentucky Derby, Secretariat wins with the fastest finishing time to date. Secretariat completed the race in 1:59:40, and went on to win the

Triple Crown, for the first time in 25 years. 1974 – The second largest crowd in the history of U.S. Thoroughbred racing watches Cannonade win the 100th Derby.

There were a total of 163,628 fans at Churchill Downs to watch the race, which also had a record large field size of 23 horses. 1977 – Seattle Slew wins the Kentucky Derby and goes on to win the Triple Crown. He is the 10th Triple Crown winner, and the only horse to take that title while also undefeated. 1978 – Affirmed wins the Kentucky Derby and goes on to win the Triple Crown. 1984 – The Kentucky Derby is simulcast at 24 racetracks across the nation, allowing those racetracks to live wager on the Kentucky Derby race. A North American record is set for wagering on a single race, at $18,941,933. Swale wins

the Derby. 1985 – The Kentucky Derby Museum is opened on the grounds of Churchill Downs Racetrack just one week before the Kentucky Derby is run. The museum’s mission was, and still is, to continue to preserve the history and to share the fun of the Kentucky Derby experience. Spend A

Buck wins the Derby. 1986 – The home of the Kentucky Derby race, Churchill

Downs Racetrack, is formally placed on the register of

National Historic Landmarks. Ferdinand wins the Derby. 1988 – Winning Colors wins the Derby, she is only the third filly in racing history to capture the Kentucky Derby win. 1995 – Thunder Gulch wins the Derby, when the purse is increased to $1 million. 1996 – The Kentucky Derby general admission price is raised to $30; it was only 50 cents when it was first opened in 1938. Grindstone wins the Derby. 1999 – The Kentucky Derby celebrates its 125 running, and

Charismatic wins the race. This is the first year Kentucky

Derby fans are able to place Future Wagers. The Future

Wager allows fans to bet on contenders leading up to the

Derby race, when the odds are higher and there is an opportunity to win more money if the contender wins. 2000 – This year marked the third century in which the Kentucky Derby was run; Fusaichi Pegasus wins the Kentucky

Derby. 2004 – The Kentucky Derby winner is Smarty Jones, and he is later featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. 2006 – Barbaro wins the Kentucky Derby, by six and a half lengths; the largest victory since 1946. Barbaro was injured just weeks later in the Preakness Stakes, and passed away after complications of that injury. He was a

Kentucky Derby fan favorite, and a bronze statue is placed above his remains at the entrance of Churchill Downs

Racetrack. 2012 – The 138th Kentucky Derby was a record-setting year.

I’ll Have Another wins the race in front of the highest attended Kentucky Derby of 165,307 fans. Wagering also set a record, with $133.1 million wagered on the Kentucky

Derby race across all-sourc es. 2015 – American Pharoah wins the Kentucky Derby and goes on to win the Triple Crown. He breaks a Triple Crown drought lasting over 30 years. 2018 – Justify wins the Kentucky Derby and continues on to clinch the Triple Crown. He is the last horse to date to win the Triple Crown. n

Sources: Churchi Downs and Kentuckyderby.com