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Rich Strike (21), with Sonny Leon aboard, crosses the finish...

Rich Strike (21), with Sonny Leon aboard, crosses the finish line to win the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 7, 2022, in Louisville, Ky.  Credit: AP/Mark Humphrey

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The ultimate Kentucky Derby fantasy came true Saturday in most stunning fashion as 80-1 shot Rich Strike, a former $30,000 claimer who scratched into the race 30 seconds before the deadline Friday morning, charged up the rail from well back in the pack to run past Epicenter and Zandon in deep stretch to win the latest running at Churchill Downs.

Jockey Sonny Leon, for the past three years the leading rider at Mahoning Valley in Youngstown, Ohio, guided Rich Strike from well back in the 20-horse field, taking advantage of a suicidal pace for novice Derby connections.

Rich Strike wasn’t even in the Derby field until Friday when Ethereal Road was scratched, making room for the colt trained by Eric Reed. Owner Rick Dawson said he found out that his horse would be in the field some “30 seconds before the deadline.”

“I fell down in the paddock when he hit the wire,” Reed said. “I about passed out, I’m so happy.”

Rich Strike himself was so wired after the race that he kept biting the pony that was trying to guide him back to the winner’s circle.

Rich Strike triggered the second-biggest upset in the race’s 148-year history, paying $163.60 to win. Only Donerail in 1913 had a higher payout of $184.90.

Rich Strike ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.61, after the pacesetter Summer Is Tomorrow ran the fastest opening quarter mile in Derby history, 21.78 seconds, and a half mile in 45.36.

“This is something that, it’s the reason everbody does this [try to run a horse in the Derby], ’cause we’re ‘not supposed to be here,’ ” Reed said. “But I knew this horse loved the track and he’s been training good all year.”

Owner Rick Dawson added: “Never ever ever would Eric and I put a horse in a race we didn’t think could win, I promise you . . . We talked about never putting in a horse that wasn’t ready, wasn’t fit. And we just knew that we had a shot because every time he went longer, he got better. Today, we go a mile and a quarter, and he just kept goin’.”

Both Leon, from Venezuela, and Reed were in their first Derby. Leon regularly rides on small circuits. Reed endured a tragedy five years ago when he lost 23 horses in a barn fire at his training center in Lexington.

Leon’s rail ride was reminiscent of jockey Calvin Borel’s stealth move aboard Mine That Bird in 2009. Mine That Bird sprang what was then the Derby’s third-biggest upset, paying $103.20 to win.

Exiting the final turn, Rich Strike was ahead of only a handful of horses but found an opening in a wall of horses about 3-wide at the top of the stretch. Leon then got back to the rail, went around another horse in the 2-path, then had clear sailing on the inside and passed Epicenter with about 70 yards to the wire.

“When we started for home, I found a lot of traffic,” Leon said. “But I never got exasperated. I waited for my moment. I came through. The last 100 yards, I kept him grinding because I think we got this — the Kentucky Derby!”

Rich Strike was claimed by Dawson, who races as RED TR-Racing LLC, for $30,000 last fall when the colt was entered in a low-level claiming race at Churchill by former owner Calumet Farm.

Calumet Farm owner Brad Kelley might be ruing that decision now. Calumet Farm has won a record eight Kentucky Derbies, but none since 1968, when Forward Pass was placed first via disqualification.

Rich Strike earned $1.86 million for just his second career victory. The colt lost to Tiz the Bomb in his last two races and was beaten by Epicenter in the Gun Runner at the Fairgrounds in December.

Simplification finished fourth and Mo Donegal was fifth.

Dawson said he nearly quit horse racing but changed his mind when he met Reed a few years ago. “He always tells me exactly what’s going on. Sometimes the truth isn’t good news But it’s always the truth. And I can deal with the truth.”

Now the truth is: Saddle up, you’re goin’ to Baltimore, dude.

With AP

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