Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, recently purchased by a group that includes former trainer Eric Reed, will stand at Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions in Stillwater, N.Y.
Rich Strike will have an advertised fee of $6,500 – the same fee he was listed for at Mountain Springs Farm in Palmyra, Pa., before his career took its latest twist. The 6-year-old son of Keen Ice, raced the majority of his career by Rick Dawson’s RED-TR Racing, arrived at Rich Miller’s Mountain Springs in January, with a syndicate that took ownership of the stallion prospect including Jamie LaMonica, head of the Kentucky-based Stallion Company bloodstock agency.
LaMonica 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 then elected to move Rich Strike from Pennsylvania to New York. It has not been confirmed whether Rich Strike covered any mares in Pennsylvania during this breeding season, which began in mid-February. However, a press release announcing the horse’s New York residency phrased that he will “start” the 2025 breeding season at Irish Hill and Dutchess Views.
“It was originally contemplated to start Rich Strike’s stallion career at Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions, however the deal fell through,” LaMonica said in the release. “When Rich Strike moved to Mountain Spring Farm in Pennsylvania, our new ownership group circled back and made a pitch to get involved with the horse. Everyone at Mountain Spring Farm has been great to work with, but the new ownership group has a stronger relationship with New York than Pennsylvania and we felt that Rich Strike has a better opportunity in New York.”
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The formation of the new ownership group marked a reunion for Rich Strike and Reed. Rich Strike last raced when finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs in May 2023. 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 into 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.
“New York breeders are sophisticated and informed, so they understand Rich Strike is a grandson of Curlin and out of a champion mare,” Irish Hill and Dutchess Views’ Rich Burke said in the release. “He should fit a lot of the mare population both genetically and physically.”
Rich Strike's mare, Gold Strike, won the 2005 Sovereign Award as Canada's champion 3-year-old filly.
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