Clark plans are made ... and so are Rich Strike’s for 2023

Louisville, Ky.

He is being aimed at stops in Dubai, Saratoga and Santa Anita next year in addition to races at home in Kentucky. But Rich Strike still has an important, final date as a 3-year-old.

His late push for an Eclipse Award reaches an important fork in the road Friday evening. That is when he faces five older horses and maybe one other 3-year-old in a wide-open renewal of the Grade 1, $750,000 Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs.

The 80-1 winner of the Kentucky Derby drew post No. 4 for the two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race, and that was just fine with trainer Eric Reed.

“Four is good,” he said. “It’s a small field, so I think he can get a good position. It looks like the rail may not be as golden as once upon a time, and he doesn’t have to be there to begin with.”

Proxy, who has finished in the money in all five of his starts this year, drew the inside post for his first race since he finished third July 2 in the Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill Downs. Trainer Michael Stidham said the 4-year-old Tapit colt who has mixed it up with the likes of Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Olympiad and who comes in off two consecutive bullet workouts at Fair Grounds could be the horse to beat.

“I feel like we are,” said Stidham, who called on Joel Rosario to keep the ride on Proxy. “I think my horse has run with the very best horses in the country. He’s either beat them or has been there in the same frame with them. We’ve given him some freshening, and he’s doing really well. His last breeze (a half-mile in 48.2 seconds Saturday) was one of his best breezes.”

Just to Rich Strike’s right in the starting gate Friday will be the top three finishers from last month’s 1 1/8-mile Fayette (G2) at Keeneland. West Will Power, the 6 3/4-length winner, drew widest in the Clark field. Bidding for his third consecutive victory, the 5-year-old Bernardini horse may try to duplicate his gate-to-wire performance last out for trainer Brad Cox.

“He’s going to be aggressive away from there,” said Cox, who said the pace does not have to be as slow as the Fayette fractions of 25.17 seconds, 49.17 seconds, 1:13.93, 1:38.67 and the final time of 1:50.68. “He’s honest. I mean he knows how to win. He can overcome things. I’ve only run him three times (since a transfer from Kelly Breen). He came from off the pace the first time we’d run him. I actually thought he’d won that race (the Cowboy Jones in August at Ellis Park), but the photo said otherwise. He’s hitting his best stride at an older age. He’s given us the confidence to try a Grade 1.”

Luis Sáez will be the fourth different rider in as many races on West Will Power.

Fulsome, a stablemate of West Will Power who was a distant second in the Fayette, drew post No. 5 with Cox’s first-call rider Florent Géroux. The 4-year-old Into Mischief colt showed closing speed to win three Grade 3s and is getting his second chance in a Grade 1 race after finishing fourth in last year’s Pennsylvania Derby.

“At the end of the day he’s been a true Grade 3 horse,” Cox said. “That’s what he has been, and I’m hoping on Friday, maybe he can step up and be a Grade 1 horse if he can break and get a good position. I thought his last race was really, really good given the fact that there was no pace on, and he came running and finished up really good to be second.”

Last Samurai, who faded to a distant third in the Fayette, will be in post No. 6 for D. Wayne Lukas. The 4-year-old Malibu Moon colt has not won since April 23 in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2), his last race for his previous trainer Dallas Stewart. Tyler Gaffalione will have the ride Friday.

Injunction, whose strong finish pushed him to finish second last month as a 13-1 long shot in the Ack Ack (G3), could show early speed Friday from post No. 3. The 4-year-old Skipshot gelding was the winning favorite who edged West Will Power in the Cowboy Jones. That was the first stakes triumph for Injunction, who is trained by Carlo Vaccarezza and will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano.

Trademark, the only other 3-year-old in the field, drew post No. 2, but he may be scratched. The Upstart gelding who never has finished in the money in seven stakes assignments may go instead in Sunday’s Commonwealth Turf (G3) for 3-year-olds at Churchill Downs.

“He’s not a grass horse,” trainer Vicki Oliver said. “But if it happens to come off (the turf) or if it looks like a small field, he could pick up a decent check if he ran back to that race he had at Keeneland (an allowance win Oct. 20). I don’t really want to go on the grass, because he’s not a grass horse. But I’d rather be with the 3-year-olds than with these hickory older horses, either.”

Entries for the Commonwealth Turf will be taken Thursday. If Trademark were to go forward in the Clark, Martín García would have the ride.

No matter who is favored in the Clark, Rich Strike faces a must-win situation if he is to be in the championship conversation. A victory would put him with Cyberknife, Jack Christopher, Modern Games and Taiba as the only 3-year-old males with two Grade 1 wins apiece.

Zandon could join that crowd if he were to win against older horses next month in the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct. Taiba could put a nose in front if he were to get a third Grade 1 victory against rival 3-year-olds Dec. 26 in the Malibu at Santa Anita.

Epicenter was widely regarded as the division leader after he won the Travers (G1) in August at Saratoga. Then he suffered a career-ending injury in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to leave him with just that one Grade 1 score this year. With runner-up finishes to Rich Strike in the Kentucky Derby and to Early Voting in the Preakness, he still may be considered the clubhouse leader for the Eclipse. But that is not a unanimous conclusion.

“I just don’t think you can name the 3-year-old champ of the year in the summer,” Rich Strike’s owner Rick Dawson said. “That’s just a little early. We all get excited, and we want to talk about it, and that’s great. I’ve always thought if you’ve got races on the schedule, let’s let the races tell us who may be the best horse.”

A loss Friday would all but leave Rich Strike out of championship consideration. To make sure the Keen Ice colt does his part to keep the Eclipse conversation going, Reed hoped Injunction might keep West Will Power company at the front of the Clark field.

“Injunction hopefully will try to run with him a little bit and keep him honest,” Reed said. “That’s always your fear is that somebody gets loose and sets those fractions, and you can’t run him down. I think Richie is pretty sharp, so hopefully he won’t be too far behind, either.”

Rich Strike is starting only 20 days after he finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but Reed said the traffic he encountered when Epicenter pulled up injured left him with plenty of gas in the tank. But even with a relatively fresh horse who has two wins and a close second in three starts at Churchill Downs, Reed did not expect to be favored to win the Clark.

“I don’t know if Richie will ever be a favorite,” Reed said. “He’s a fan favorite, maybe. I don’t know about the toteboard.”

Rich Strike is the first Kentucky Derby winner who never has been favored in any of his races since I’ll Have Another from 2012. He also could be the first horse to win the Clark in his Derby year since His Eminence in 1901.

Reed said he would van Rich Strike from Lexington, Ky., to Louisville on Tuesday and have him gallop over the main track at Churchill Downs on Wednesday and Thursday.

Dawson took plans a few steps further Sunday, outlining plans for Rich Strike’s 4-year-old campaign.

“If I had the perfect race schedule for Rich Strike next year,” he said, “it would be the Dubai World Cup (G1), the Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill, the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga, the Lukas Classic (G2) back at Churchill and the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. We’d probably call it a career by then.”

First things first. The Clark is scheduled to start Friday at 5:56 p.m. EST. That National Weather Service in Louisville forecast a 30 percent chance of showers with a high near 47. A 30-40 percent chance of afternoon and evening showers also were forecast for Thanksgiving at Churchill Downs.