Derby winner Rich Strike will race in Breeders’ Cup Classic

After wrestling with a choice between the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the more modest Grade 1 Clark Stakes, the connections for 80-1 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike decided to go for their share of the $6 million jackpot Nov. 5.

“We are racing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

That was what trainer Eric Reed said in a text message Sunday morning from his Mercury Equine Center base in Lexington, Ky.

“Rich Strike is doing as good as he ever has,” Reed said. “Rick feels that he deserves the chance to take on the best in the world.”

Zipse: Is Breeders’ Cup Classic the right spot for Rich Strike?

Rick would be owner Rick Dawson, who added in a separate text that it is “a big stage again for Richie, but we wouldn’t run him if we didn’t have confidence he will be successful.”

The best in the world on the big stage would be Flightline, the undefeated 4-year-old colt ranked No. 1 by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and by Timeform. The Classic field also is expected to include Epicenter, widely seen as the leader among North America’s 3-year-old dirt males like Rich Strike.

It is the division championship that Reed and Dawson covet for their colt.

“Rick told me if Flightline goes on and does what he’s supposed to do, that’s fine,” Reed said. “But he believes we can defeat any of the others. Not that we’re better than they are. But we have as equal a shot at beating them as anybody else.”

When Rich Strike won the Derby, Epicenter finished second. When Epicenter won the Travers (G1) in August at Saratoga, Rich Strike was fourth. The Classic would serve as a rubber match and an influential race for voters deciding who should be the Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old dirt male.

A Keen Ice colt who Reed picked up for Dawson in a $30,000 claim last September, Rich Strike finished second last out Oct. 1 in a controversial running of the Lukas Classic (G2) at Churchill Downs. He since breezed a half-mile in 47.6 seconds last weekend over the same track.

“The workout was great, and the horse is great,” Reed said. “He’s going to run big no matter what race he goes to.”

Pre-entries and the $75,000 fees that go with them are due by Monday at noon local time wherever they are filed. It costs another $75,000 to pass the entry box next Monday. In contrast to that $150,000, it would cost a combined $5,000 to nominate for and enter the Clark, a race worth $750,000.

Reed did not rule out the possibility of Rich Strike going to both races. They fall 20 days apart. Reed and Dawson famously decided not to run back in the Preakness two weeks after winning the Derby.

Reed said Rich Strike has shown him that things are different now.

“If the Derby was two weeks ago, and the Preakness was today, I would have ran,” he said. “That’s how good he came out of the Lukas. If he comes out of the Classic fired up, we just might take our Derby-Preakness trip here, except we’ll get one extra week.”

Reed said Dawson would have more to say Monday afternoon. Suffice it say, though, the Oklahoma-based owner who won America’s biggest race was motivated to take part in the richest one.

As Reed recounted, “He said, ‘I want to have some fun.’”