Belmont Stakes 2022: Rich Strike's unlikely Kentucky Derby win the story racing needed
ELMONT, N.Y. – As Rick Dawson detailed the journey since they plucked Rich Strike from a $30,000 maiden claiming race nine months ago, it was like a recitation of the American racing dream, the last month of which has played out in real time on the national stage.
There’s not an ounce of pretention in the wake of an historic upset, and a ton of humility amid the outpouring of attention. Just a group that’s far removed from the sport’s elite taking advantage of a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
It’s the story racing desperately needs right now. A narrative that transcends the sport for all the right reasons, as the ultimate longshot returns to the track in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, five weeks removed from a stunning upset in the Kentucky Derby.
“We had just claimed him and ran him a $90,000 allowance at Keeneland, and he came from last to third and then passed those two horses within 50 yards of the finish line going a mile,” explained Dawson, a semi-retired oil/gas businessman from Oklahoma. “(Trainer) Eric (Reed) is kind of seeing things I don’t, but then a few weeks after that he said, ‘you know, I think we’ve got something here. I think this guy can run, and I’m not real sure where but I think we have a stakes horse anyway.’ I said ‘Derby?’ and he said 'I hate to say that but I don’t know. Maybe.’
“So we just went to the first Saturday in May on the calendar and we backed up from there, and we picked our races as best we could with four or five weeks in between and we kind of stuck to our plan.”
The result was a rags-to-riches tale for the ages. A last-minute entrant on Friday morning, and a stirring stretch run early Saturday evening that resulted in a nearly $2 million payday.
Belmont Stakes 2022: Post positions, morning line odds
In many ways, Rich Strike’s performance in the Kentucky Derby was the most important victory in some time for an industry struggling to regain its foothold after a series of high-profile scandals.
It was only fitting that Rich Strike was installed as the third choice in the Belmont, not the favorite, when the morning line was revealed and the post positions drawn Tuesday.
Achieving immortality
Against the backdrop the past few year provides, the juxtaposition could not be starker.
The leadup to the Kentucky Derby centered on trainer Bob Baffert, who, after a nearly year-long legal battle, was denied what would have been his seventh Derby win because Medina Spirit flunked a post-race drug test. Baffert is currently suspended because of the incident. Medina Spirit died at Santa Anita following a workout last Dec. 6, with a necropsy failing to find a definitive cause of death.
In 2019, Maximum Security was disqualified for interference after winning the Kentucky Derby. Not long after, the colt’s trainer, Jason Servis, was a lead figure in the federal doping indictments that rocked the sport.
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From revelations that 2018 Triple Crown winner Justified failed a drug test after the Santa Anita Derby that should have kept him from running in the Kentucky Derby if the rules were followed, to the current infighting over the upcoming federal regulation over the sport, it’s been a rough ride.
Then came an unheralded colt delivering the first Grade 1 win for its owner, trainer and jockey, Sonny Leon, the three-time defending riding champ at Mahoning Valley in Youngstown, Ohio, who wove through traffic from the back of the pack like a Hall of Famer, providing a dose of immortality for everyone involved.
Their Triple Crown trail included a trio of minor stakes races, with no wins, on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park in Kentucky, culminating with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks. Rich Strike only got into the Kentucky Derby because of a late scratch the day before the race.
“(Rich Strike) was begging for more ground and he is not the best on the synthetic,” Reed said, “but it just the only way we could get him there without doing a lot of traveling for the races. I knew when we got him on the dirt he would get much better. When I worked him (at Churchill Downs) before the Derby it was a big work.”
Sentimental favorite
It was a public relations boondoggle for a sport still finds itself at an important crossroad, with the realities of racing and public perception colliding to create the most critical moment the game has ever faced. The overhead view of his stirring stretch drive became a viral video.
“I have received several handwritten letters all over the country, Canada, Italy,” Dawson said.
“I get a lot of emails from folks and all have been 100 percent supportive of the way we have handled our horse and they have been very complimentary of our crew. Everybody is very humble and appreciative of what we have done. We understand the magnitude of what just happened, but we remain focused and we want to do what’s best for Rich Strike.”
Added Reed: “I guess the biggest thing for me is guys in the barn and my staff are getting some attention. They work hard and never get any so this is good to watch it happen to those guys.”
So no matter who the favorite is on the tote board, Rich Strike will be the sentimental favorite around the country. And that’s exactly what racing needs right now.
Stephen Edelson is a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey sports columnist who has been covering athletics in the state and at the Jersey Shore for nearly 35 years. Contact him at: @SteveEdelsonAPP; sedelson@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Belmont Stakes 2022: Rich Strike is the unlikely story racing needed
