With favorite Epicenter and Zandon dueling in front, Rich Strike came charging up the rail in the closing strides for a stunning 80-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Anyone anticipating a return to normalcy in the Kentucky Derby got a dose of crazy Saturday when an 80-1 shot came charging up the rail to win at Churchill Downs.
“I about fell down in the paddock when he hit the wire,” winning trainer Eric Reed said. “I about passed out.”“What a crazy Derby,” said trainer Kenny McPeek, whose horses finished eighth and ninth. Rich Strike ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.61. After taking a bite out of his much costlier competition, he playfully chomped on the pony guiding him to the winner’s circle.
Leon regularly rides on some of the country’s smallest circuits, where the horse flesh is inexpensive and the purse money modest. But he matched wits with such veteran riders as Joel Rosario, aboard Epicenter, and Mike Smith, aboard Messier. “Small trainer, small rider, small stable, he should have been 80-1,” Reed said. “And so anybody that’s in this business, lightening can strike.”
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