LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Derby winner Rich Strike left Churchill Downs just before 10 a.m Saturday morning to head back home to Lexington. RED-TR-Racing and trainer Eric Reed’s primary base is the Mercury Equine Center in Lexington. 

The longshot winning horse, at 80-1, charged past Epicenter and Zandon to pull out the second biggest upset in Derby history. Donerail, the 1913 winner at 91-1 still holds the record for the biggest longshot winner.

The race on Saturday was Reed’s first Grade I victory and only his second graded victory ever. Reed’s career as a trainer began in 1985. In a statement from Churchill Downs, Reed said, “I couldn’t sleep last night. At 4 this morning I was wondering if this was real or if it was a dream. I got home and my kids and their friends were there with champagne. I finally told them at 2:30 I had to go up to bed. I just kept seeing him in my head come up the rail.”

The next possible step for Rich Strike is a trip to Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore for the Preakness on May 21. Reed said the horse would return to Churchill Downs to work over the track before deciding what’s next for Rich Strike. Reed said, “I’m not going to do a whole lot with him and I don’t like to run back quick. You get one like this in a lifetime and you have to protect him.”

Rich Strike only made it into the Kentucky Derby on Friday, May 6 after Ethereal Road scratched. The only win the horse had prior to Saturday’s Derby victory was a $30,000 maiden claimer at Churchill Downs last September. Rich Strike finished fourth in the John Battaglia Memorial and third in the Jeff Ruby Steaks giving him 21 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and enough to land the horse on the also-eligible list.

When recounting the unbelievable win, Reed told reporters he didn’t actually see his horse cross the finish line. “Then, I don’t really remember what happened except my back gave out on me. I ended up on the ground before the horse even crossed the wire. All my friends and family just piled on top of me. He looks great this morning. He ate up everything last night and seems really good. He gains weight after every race and I don’t think we’ve gotten to the bottom of him.”

Reed says he drove back to Lexington to be with his wife, Kay, who was overseeing the training center and 100 horses.

“My friends drank a lot but I didn’t,” said Reed, who has horses entered this week at Horseshoe Indianapolis, Mountaineer and Belterra. “I was happy for my crew and so proud that they got to make the walk (over to the paddock for the Derby).”