Rich Strike's 3-Year-Old Season to Continue in Clark

Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) winner Rich Strike  is poised to return to racing action later this month over his preferred track surface at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Eric Reed said Nov. 16 that the Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) at Churchill Downs Nov. 25 is the target for his Keen Ice   3-year-old, who just finished fourth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland. More than 20 lengths off the hot pace of Life Is Good   after six furlongs Nov. 5, he closed to finish fourth in the 1 1/4-mile race, 11 1/4 lengths behind victorious Flightline  .

Reed, who had initially planned to make the Classic the final start of Rich Strike's 3-year-old campaign, said the Classic did not tax Rich Strike as much as he had anticipated. He speculated that might have been because Rich Strike fell so far behind down the backstretch, in part because when Epicenter  was pulled up due to injury, he drifted outward and forced Rich Strike outward as well.

"So we're going to take a chance on his favorite track and see if we can't end the year trying to get (another) grade 1," Reed said.

Red TR-Racing's Rich Strike is 2-1-0 in three starts beneath the Twin Spires, having won a maiden race last year as a 2-year-old and the Kentucky Derby in early May, well before his close second to Hot Rod Charlie  in the Lukas Classic Stakes (G2) Oct. 1. He's 0-0-3 in nine starts away from Churchill Downs, though he has run competitively at times elsewhere, such as when he was fourth in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course this summer.

Rich Strike's presence in the Clark should add to fan attendance at the Louisville track on Black Friday, a popular holiday shopping day.

"Some of the stores might be mad at me, but Churchill Downs will be happy," Reed quipped.

According to Churchill Downs publicity, should Rich Strike win the Clark, he'd become the first Derby winner to capture the Clark in his 3-year-old season since His Eminence in 1901. 

Only 14 Kentucky Derby winners have gone on to win the Clark, most doing so as older horses: Silver Charm (1998), Whirlaway (1942), Exterminator (1922), Old Rosebud (1917), His Eminence (1901), Lieut. Gibson (1900), Plaudit (1898), Halma (1895), Chant (1894), Azra (1892), Riley (1890), Spokane (1889), Buchanan (1884), and Hindoo (1881).

Fifteen horses have been nominated to the 1 1/8-mile Clark, with Rich Strike the only Breeders' Cup participant. Rich Strike is one of just a pair of 3-year-olds nominated in a race for horses aged 3 and up.

Reed acknowledges the 20-day turnaround is not ideal.

"We drew blood on him and it's great, and his energy level seems high," Reed said. "It's still a gamble for us—we've never run him back this quick—he might be telling us he's ready and not be, but he seems to be ready to run to me."

Other Clark nominees include the 1-2-3-4 finishers from the Oct. 29 Hagyard Fayette Stakes (G2) at Keeneland—West Will Power , Fulsome , Last Samurai , and King Fury .

Entries for the Clark will be taken and posts drawn Nov. 20.