80-1 Longshot Rich Strike Wins Kentucky Derby

At 4-1, Epicenter was the favorite in the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby, and as the horses came out of the final turn, it looked like it was coming down to either the favorite or Zandon (6-1). But while those two were running almost neck and neck, 80-1 shot Rich Strike came screaming up along the rail, pulled ahead, and won, beating Epicenter by ¾ of a length, with Zandon another ¾ back. The winning time was 2:02.61.

Not only was it an exciting finish to the race, it was also historic. Rich Strike, with jockey Sonny Leon, had pulled off the second biggest upset in the history of the Kentucky Derby. You have to go back to 1913 for the only other one that had longer odds. That race was won by a horse named Donerail won at 91-1 in just an eight horse field. There were 20 horses in the 2022 race, and Rich Strike wasn’t slated to be one of them until Ethereal Road was scratched on Friday morning, just before the deadline for qualification for the race.

The second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Preakness, is May 21st. Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, had not immediately committed to running the Preakness, but we can’t imagine him not doing so.