Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike has been purchased by a group that includes his former trainer Eric Reed, and the group plans to stand him at stud in New York at a yet-to-be-determined location.
The move is the latest twist in Rich Strike’s saga as he begins his stallion career this year. The 6-year-old son of Keen Ice arrived at Mountain Springs Farm in Palmyra, Pa., in January. Farm owner Rich Miller became part of a syndicate that took ownership of the stallion, with other syndicate members including Jamie LaMonica, head of the Kentucky-based Stallion Company bloodstock agency.
Rick Dawson, who owned the horse for the majority of his racing career, said he would support the horse with mares. Rich Strike was advertised for a fee of $6,500 for this breeding season, which began in mid-February.
LaMonica, in a deal first reported by Horse Racing Nation, recently sold a percentage of Rich Strike to a partnership that includes Reed and his wife, Margaret, and Ken Tyson, who Reed trains for. LaMonica will remain a part-owner in the new group, for which ownership percentages were not disclosed. The group is seeking to lease barn space to stand Rich Strike at a New York farm.
This represents a reunion for Rich Strike and Reed after the latter resigned as his Derby winner’s trainer in May 2023. Rich Strike last raced when finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs that month. The following week, Reed resigned due to differences with Dawson over media deals to document their story and image rights. Dawson intended for Rich Strike to continue racing with trainer Bill Mott – and Mott was able to breeze Rich Strike four times last summer. However, recurring suspensory ligament issues kept Rich Strike from returning to the races.
Rich Strike officially retired last fall with a record of 14-2-1-3 and earnings of $2,526,809. Bred and initially raced by Calumet Farm, he was claimed by Dawson and Reed out of a maiden victory at Churchill Downs in 2021. Racing through the Kentucky Derby prep series the following winter at Turfway Park, he finished third in both the Leonatus Stakes and in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby on the Tapeta.
With the points he earned in that series, Rich Strike drew in to the Kentucky Derby field the day before the race as an also-eligible. In the Derby, he and jockey Sonny Leon rallied from 15th at the quarter pole with an inside move for a shocking upset by three-quarters of a length. His winning payout of $163.60 made him the second-longest shot to ever win the Derby, behind only Donerail in 1913.
Rich Strike bypassed the Preakness to prepare for the Belmont Stakes but was sixth in that classic. That was the first of six starts following the Derby in which he went winless, although he was a close second in the Grade 2 Lukas Classic in October 2022 at Churchill Downs.
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