Rich Strike

Our sport thrives on anticipation; our business, on outcomes. But actually it can take a while to unpick one from the other--especially when even a race as storied as the GI Runhappy Travers S. is not just an end in itself, but also a potential means to viability for the whole program of whoever is lucky enough to own the winner. In principle, the bare couple of minutes dividing anticipation from outcome at Saratoga on Saturday will be history tangibly in the making. From the flux of hopes and interests...

The GI Runhappy Travers S. is one of the summer's most highly anticipated events and for the past several years it has been the centerpiece of a Super Saturday card at Saratoga that serves as a Breeders' Cup preview. The Travers is one of five star-studded Grade Is on the 14-race card, which also includes the GII Ballston Spa S. for turf fillies. Intriguing storylines abound in this year's eight-horse renewal of the summer centerpiece for sophomore colts, which is topped by GII Jim Dandy S. winner Epicenter (Not This...

Winchell Thoroughbreds' MGSW and GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. runner-up Epicenter (Not This Time) drew post six in a field of eight and was installed as a significant 7-5 favorite in Saturday's 153rd renewal of the $1.25 million GI Runhappy Travers S. The Steve Asmussen pupil, last seen producing a dazzling late-to-first kick to capture the local GII Jim Dandy S. July 30, will be ridden by regular jockey Joel Rosario, who missed most of the past week of racing at Saratoga with an illness. Given the second-choice nod at...

With exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes in the irons, GI Kentucky Derby upsetter Rich Strike (Keen Ice) breezed five-eighths of a mile in :59.82 (3/34) over the Saratoga main track Friday morning in advance of his appearance in the $1.25-million GI Runhappy Travers S. at the Spa Aug. 27. "He worked really good. He worked faster than we thought he would, but he did it easily," trainer Eric Reed said. "I think my question on him liking the track was answered this morning. He came home well. It is probably as...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Trainer Eric Reed is looking back and ahead as he prepares GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) for the GI Runhappy Travers S. With a firm opinion of what went wrong in the Rich Strike's sixth-place finish in the GI Belmont S. June 11, Reed is expecting a much better performance in the $1.25-million signature race of the Saratoga Race Course meet Aug. 27. He will be the first Derby winner to run in the Travers since Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) finished ninth in 2017....

Sonny Leon, the winning rider aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in this year's GI Kentucky Derby, is about to relocate to Gulfstream Park. He is listed to ride six horses on the Saturday card, including Easy Come Easy Go (Midnight Storm) in the $75,000 Azalea S. Leon has been riding at Belterra Park, where he was fourth in the standings with 33 wins entering Thursday's card. "He's going to move his tack there for now and give it a shot," said Jeff Perrin, his agent at Belterra. Perrin will not...

by Stefanie Grimm & Patrycja Szpyra With the Fourth of July holiday weekend in the rear-view mirror, the summer turf season kicks into high gear starting with a pair of Grade I's at Belmont Park Saturday. The home team takes on a new wave of European challengers in the 1 1/4-mile GI Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational S., the first leg of the Caesars Turf Triple Series. Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb), last seen finishing ninth behind longshot GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice), finally gets back...

He really does seem to have some kind of Midas touch right now. And a lot of people, hitting a formula that has paid off with such remarkable consistency, would be tempted to raise the stakes. But it's not just the fact that Tommy Wente is perfectly well acquainted with the other kind of luck, so routine in this business, that will stop him getting carried away. Because even if he believed that his model might be adapted to a higher level of the market, he would miss the sheer...

GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and GI Kentucky Derby Rich Strike (Keen Ice), sixth in Saturday's Belmont, will now be pointed towards the Aug. 27 GI Runhappy Travers S., connections confirmed Sunday morning. "I haven't really talked to the ownership group about it too much, but both of our Travers winners went through the Jim Dandy," Mo Donegal's trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday. "So to me, if he has a prep between now and the Travers, that would make the most sense." The GII Jim Dandy will...

ELMONT, NY - There will be a capped crowd of 50,000 on hand for Saturday's blockbuster GI Belmont Stakes program. Nobody will have a better seat in the house all day than jockey Flavien Prat. The 29-year-old Frenchman will be aboard 2-1 morning-line favorite 'TDN Rising Star' We the People (Constitution) in the final leg of the Triple Crown. He will also pilot unbeaten sensation and fellow 'Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) in the prestigious GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. Both will exit from post one. WinStar Farm, Bobby Flay,...

This week's TDN Triple Crown feature examines the GI Belmont S. entrants listed in "likeliest winner" order. 1) Mo Donegal (c, Uncle Mo--Callingmissbrown, by Pulpit) O-Donegal Racing & Repole Stable. B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY). T-Todd Pletcher. Sales History: $250,000 yrl '20 KEESEP. You could argue that Mo Donegal lost the GI Kentucky Derby at the post draw after getting stuck with the dreaded rail gate. But his fifth-place effort, beaten 5 3/4 lengths in a stretch finish that featured the 1-2-3 horses all running full-tilt to the...

1) WE THE PEOPLE, c, Constitution--Letchworth, by Tiznow Owner: WinStar Farm, Bobby Flay, CMNWLTH, Siena Farm Breeder: Henley Farms (KY) Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset Sales History: $110,000 Keeneland November weanling, $220,000 Keeneland September yearling, $230,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-year-old Pedigree Notes: Trying to become the second Belmont winner in three years for WinStar's star fourth-crop sire (Tiz the Law in 2020), We the People is the second foal to race out of Letchworth, a $40,000 Keeneland January purchase by Henley Farms at Keeneland January in 2019. Letchworth is a daughter of Harmony...