Even after Kentucky Derby win, Rich Strike owner is one of the guys at an Oklahoma bar

Folks at Thunder Roadhouse went "crazy" Saturday when one of their own won the Kentucky Derby.

"I have never had a customer win the Kentucky Derby before," Thunder Roadhouse owner Eric Miller said on Tuesday.

Rick Dawson, of Edmond, the owner of Rich Strike, the horse that shocked the world Saturday by winning the Kentucky Derby at 80-to-1 odds, has been a regular at the off-track betting site and restaurant on Memorial Road for years.

"His buddies were going nuts," Miller said. "All of his old betting buddies in there, which he has been a regular for years and years, they all got pretty healthy, I think.

"Everybody is going around going, 'Rick's horse won.' Everybody was happy. Even one of my girls in the betting window, she came up to me and said, 'Eric, I bet $2 on Rick's horse and won $163.'"

More: Watch replay video of Rich Strike's stunning win at 2022 Kentucky Derby

Miller said the Roadhouse patrons on Saturday were not only happy about unexpectedly winning money, but they were even more excited their friend had won the biggest horse race in the world.

"Their buddy won the Derby. It didn't matter that they won money on it. They were just happy that he won," Miller said.

"He is a great guy. He is genuinely a nice guy, and it is kind of nice to have a nice guy win. I am from Madill originally and I was raised in horse country, and it's pretty cool to have an owner from Oklahoma win the Derby."

Thunder Roadhouse ran out of cash Saturday to pay off the winning bets.

"We had to send them to Remington Park (to collect)," he said

The biggest payout at Thunder Roadhouse from the Derby was $55,000, Miller said.

'Just floating in air'

Rick Dawson and his family of 25 had crowded into a suite that held 18 people at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

"When he (Rich Strike) passed right in front of us, he was third, and I yelled we are going to hit the board," Dawson said.

"He was gaining on second and then I said we might get second, then I look up at the big screen because I lose sight of him on the track and he was just flying. He looks like he is in fifth gear and (the other horses) are in third gear. I don't know how many lengths he made up in the last 50 yards but it was unbelievable. I yelled out, 'We are going to win the Derby!'

"I don't think anybody's feet touched the ground for 30 minutes. We were just floating in air. It was the greatest thing ever, in my life, outside of my children. I don't know how I top this ever, unless we win the Triple Crown."

Dawson, 65, said a decision will be made in the next few days about whether to run Rich Strike in the Preakness, the next race in the Triple Crown. It will depend on the horse's physical condition, he said.

"It will be great to have a Triple Crown battle with Epicenter and Zandon (the two horses that finished second and third in the Kentucky Derby)," Dawson said.

"I can't say until we get Rich Strike another day or two on the track. The vets have went over him head to toe and said he came out of the race just perfect, so all that part's great. Now, we are going to see how sore he is and how he feels. If he is full of life and ready to run, we may make a run to Maryland and see what we can do."

'Against all odds': Rich Strike wins the 2022 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs

A team of underdogs

Dawson calls Rich Strike, whose nickname is Ritchie, the ultimate underdog story. A horse, trainer, jockey and owner finally got their chance at horse racing's greatest prize.

"Here I am, I've owned 10 or 11 horses in my life and Eric (Reed) is a second-generation trainer whose dad trained for years, he's trained for 35 years, and neither one of them ever had a horse in the Derby, let alone win," Dawson said.

"Then (jockey) Sonny Leon, that was his first trip to the Derby and he wins. The ride he put on was one for the ages, I assure you. They all got their opportunities and, wow, did they make the most of it."

"It is such a feel good story for America right now. The timing couldn't have been more on point, in my opinion. America needs a happy story for a change, to be honest with you."

Dawson, who is semi-retired from the oil and gas business, said it's been a whirlwind of interviews and attention in the 72 hours since the Derby.

He arrived back in Oklahoma on Monday night, ready for some much-needed rest after his instant fame.

"I started getting texts and emails from all over the world," Dawson said after the Derby win. "Comments came across where people were touched and moved by the race to the point they were crying. It's not Rick Dawson's horse any longer. It's America's horse."

More: Who has won the most Kentucky Derby races? Kentucky Derby trivia facts you should know

The stuff of movies

John Brooks, the former University of Oklahoma football broadcaster who does a handicapping radio show from Thunder Roadhouse, calls Rich Strike the greatest horse racing story in history.

"How could it not be?" Brooks asked.

Not only is it near miraculous that Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby at 80-to-1 odds, it is near miraculous the horse was even in the field.

Dawson claimed the horse for $30,000 out of a cheap maiden race last September at Churchill Downs. Five others had put in a claim for Rich Strike, but Dawson won the shake.

The claiming race was Rich Strike's only win before the Derby. In his five races after that, he'd finished third twice, fourth once and fifth once.

Rich Strike became the first horse that was ever claimed out of a race, to then go on and win the Derby.

The Kentucky Derby field is determined by points accumulated in a long series of races that begins in the fall and continues to the final weeks before the race.

Rich Strike was supposed to race in the Springboard Mile, a Kentucky Derby prep race for 2-year-olds, at Remington Park in December 2021. But Rich Strike had a cough that morning and pulled out of the race.

Rich Strike later earned enough points in prep races to make the top 25 list for the Derby, but needed other horses to pull out to make the field of 20.

On Monday of race week, Rich Strike had moved up to No. 21 as three horses pulled out in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby. The decision was made to take Rich Strike to Churchill Downs and prepare for the race just in case.

"We came to Churchill and trained like we were going to be in the Derby no matter what," Dawson said.

Rich Strike was still on the outside looking in on the day before the Kentucky Derby. Then a late scratch from D. Wayne Lukas-trained Ethereal Road on Friday put Rich Strike in the race.

Then a fast start in the Kentucky Derby opened the door for a closer like Rich Strike to overtake the field in the final quarter-mile.

Brooks thinks a movie should be made about it.

"It's amazing," he said. "It's absolutely amazing."

Miller agrees.

"It should be a movie," he said. "This has never happened, anything like this in horse racing, and it (horse racing) needed a good story versus all the kind of bull crap that has happened the last few years."

Watch: 16-year-old react to winning his $3 bet on Rich Strike at the Kentucky Derby

The Roadhouse gang

Next time Dawson goes to Thunder Roadhouse, he will be a celebrity.

Dawson, though, says he still will be the same $20 bettor he has always been when he returns to his betting family at Thunder Roadhouse.

"People that know me will tell you I've never changed, and this won't change me as well," he said. "We are all the same. We are the Roadhouse group, that's for sure."

Reporter Ed Godfrey looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at egodfrey@oklahoman.com or on Twitter @EdGodfrey. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Kentucky Derby win won't change Rich Strike owner Rick Dawson