LEXINGTON, Ky. — The journey to the Triple Crown continues for the 148th Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike. On Monday, Rich Strike and trainer Eric Reed began preparations for the Preakness Stakes.

What You Need To Know

  • Derby 148 winner Rich Strike rests two days and now prepares for Preakness

  • Rich Strike entered the Derby in a last-minute decision

  • The Preakness Stakes is the second leg of the Triple Crown

  • It’s Saturday May 21 at the Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland

The last-minute addition to Race 12 at Churchill Downs gave the Mercury Equine Center a Derby horse.

“It was one minute till 9 (a.m.),” Reed said.

Reed spent Friday morning May 6 preparing to enter Rich Strike in the Derby.

At 8:45 a.m. a Churchill Downs employee shared some grim news.

“He came up about a quarter till 9 (a.m.) and he shook his head. He said, ‘It’s not gonna happen. I’m so sorry.’ And you know, you feel the letdown,” Reed said.

That’s when Reed and his team from the Mercury Equine Center started packing up and making other plans.

Rich Strike entered in the Derby in a last minute decision. (Spectrum News 1/Khyati Patel)

“And before I could get that out I had a phone call saying ‘Hey, don’t do anything to your horse. I’m hearing he might get in.’ And I’m like that information I’ve already been told… I’m not and my security guard’s gone etc,” Reed said.

Then came the phone call.

“The stewards called, asked me did I want to participate in the 12th race on Saturday, the Kentucky Derby, and I couldn’t breathe to say yes. It took me three of four gasps of air to be able to say yes. The only other feeling I’ve had better than that was when he actually won,” Reed said. 

Added to the lineup at the eleventh hour, with an 80-to-1 chance of winning, Rich Strike became the second biggest upset in Derby history. Donerail, the 1913 winner at 91-1 still holds the record for the biggest longshot winner.

“He’s gonna have an easy gallop tomorrow,” Reed said. “Little jogging. We’ll see how much energy he has, we’ll watch his demeanor for the next couple of days. And that’ll tell us. It seems like he’s ready to run tomorrow already, but I know the tanks got to be a little low. But we’ll see.” 

He’s now on day two of resting, before heading to Maryland.

“That’s the game plan. And as long as everything goes, right, hopefully, we can go there, and then we’ll go to the Belmont to try to do the impossible win all three, maybe,” Reed said.

Reed, 57, said he’s living out a dream that has now come true.

The Preakness Stakes is the second leg of the Triple Crown.

It runs Saturday, May 21 at the Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland. 

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