Rich Strike (Keen Ice), upset winner of the GI Kentucky Derby, got his first look at the Belmont Park main track on Thursday, galloping 1 1/2 miles over the sloppy going with regular exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes in the irons. The chestnut arrived at Belmont early Wednesday morning to prepare for the GI Belmont S. on June 11.
“It seems like he's done everything a little bit better than I thought he would,” said trainer Eric Reed. “We actually took him out yesterday and we were going to give him one turn–the rider said he wanted to give him another, so he went twice on the [training] track and got used to the pony and made a friend there. Today, we took him to the main track. It was a little wet, so we just went one time around and we kind of made him go at our pace. He didn't care for that. His ears were back and he was wanting to go. So, tomorrow he'll get a chance to go out and train like normal.”
Lagunes added, “He's happy. I think he likes this track. He was pretty fresh and was pulling a little, but he's more relaxed here than at Churchill Downs. There [at Churchill], there are a lot of horses and a lot of traffic and he gets a little stressed. But not here.”
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