Rich Strike, now 5, attempts comeback at Saratoga

When Rich Strike opens gallops on the Oklahoma training track, the 5-year-old Colt is eager to show off at Saratoga.

“He looked good,” said Bill Mott, Rich Strike’s trainer. “He was switching his leads good. He looked like he was moving very well, and he needed to do it. He was becoming a bit anxious.”

Anxious to get back to the form that won him the Kentucky Derby two years ago with 80-1 odds, the second-biggest upset ever.

But the journey since has been difficult. Rich Strike finished fourth at the Travers Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Classic later that year. And then in May 2023, he crossed the finish fifth at the Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs, which was his last race.

“It’s pretty hard to top a Kentucky Derby. So I’m just hoping to get him back to the races and get him back to the best that we can possibly get him back,” Mott said.

Leg issues kept the thoroughbred off the track most of his four-year-old season. Retirement and a potential stallion career was going to be his next chapter. That is until his owner Rick Dawson decided to give racing another shot, and tapped Mott to help with the comeback.

“I think he’ll be competitive with the top horses,” Mott said. “And, it’s just a matter if we can get him back to that point.”

After a long layoff at Margaux Farm in Kentucky, Rich Strike is starting to pick up the pace at Saratoga toward a normal training schedule. Mott said he is progressing better than expected.

“In between those breezes, he’ll be doing jogging and galloping, and then do some speed work once a week,” he said.

If the colt continues to progress at this rate, Mott says Rich Strike might be ready to race by the end of the summer meet. But only time will take for what’s in store for his next chapter.

“Look, that’s two months away from now, and I think that would be a lot to ask,” Mott said. “But I think really by the end of the meet, by the end of August here, we should have a pretty good idea of where we’re at with him.”