80-1 Long Shot Rich Strike Pulls Off Stunning Upset in Kentucky Derby

An 80-1 long shot named Rich Strike produced one of the great surprises in Kentucky Derby history on Saturday, charging up the inside rail at Churchill Downs to win the 148th running of the race.

While favorite Epicenter and Zandon battled each other at the front, the chestnut colt made his move late. He finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Epicenter, the 4-1 favorite, with Zandon another three-quarters of a length back in third. Simplification was fourth and Mo Donegal fifth. Rich Strike covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.61.

The victory paid $163.60 on a winning bet. Only Donerail in 1913, at $184.90, has returned more in the Derby. Trainer Eric Reed said he nearly collapsed when his horse hit the wire. "I about fell down in the paddock when he hit the wire," he said. "I about passed out."

Rich Strike was not even assured a place in the field until Friday, when Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas scratched Ethereal Road, opening a spot. Owner Rick Dawson said the connections learned of the opening about 30 seconds before the deadline. "We always felt if we just got in we've got a shot," he said. The colt had only two wins before the Derby.

Jockey Sonny Leon, from Venezuela, had only two horses beaten in the early stages. He worked his mount between rivals to reach the inside rail, then swung around Messier in the stretch and returned to the rail to run down the leaders. "When I was in the last 70 yards, I said, 'I think I got this race,'" Leon said. Both Leon and Reed were competing in their first Derby. Leon typically rides on some of the country's smaller circuits, yet he outdueled veterans such as Joel Rosario, aboard Epicenter, and Mike Smith, aboard Messier.

For Reed, the win followed hardship. Five years ago he lost nearly two dozen horses in a barn fire at his training center in Lexington, and he briefly wondered whether it was a sign to leave the sport. He said friends he had not seen in years showed up to support him. "It let me know there's so much good out there, and then I just decided I wasn't going to let it take me out," he said.

Dawson, who races as RED TR-Racing LLC, bought the colt for $30,000 last fall, when his former owner entered him in a low-level claiming race. Calumet Farm, which has a record eight Derby wins, was that former owner. Rich Strike earned $1.86 million for his first stakes victory. He had lost to Zandon in last month's Blue Grass Stakes and to Epicenter in the Louisiana Derby in March.

The result added to a turbulent few years for the race. In 2019, Maximum Security was disqualified for interference and Country House was declared the winner. The 2020 Derby was delayed to September and run without fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year's winner, Medina Spirit, was disqualified after nine months following a failed drug test, which led to trainer Bob Baffert being banned from Churchill Downs for two years.

On Saturday, Churchill Downs was back at full capacity for the first time in three years, with fans in elaborate hats and seersucker suits on a cloudy, unusually cool day. Days earlier, Reed had texted Dawson a photo of the colt and his handlers napping in a stall, saying the horse was "cool and ready to run." Dawson replied, "If we can wake him up." Afterward, he said, "I feel like the luckiest man alive."