Jockey Sonny Leon reacts after Rich Strike wins the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7. Picture: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
You can have too much of a good thing, the saying goes. But how do you know when to stop doing the good thing – to avoid it going over the top and being destroyed.
You’re having fun, feeling excited, pleasure zones are zinging; so, how do you say, “OK, stop! This is enough.” Some uncommon people can do it.
In the US, trainer Eric Reed and owner Richard Dawson opted not to pursue a fabled Triple Crown dream and race their Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike in the series second leg, the Preakness Stakes, this past weekend.
In South Africa, trainer Sean Tarry and owner Gaynor Rupert have resisted the considerable temptation of contesting the upcoming Hollywoodbets Durban July with their superstar filly Rain In Holland – who was crowned with a Triple Tiara and a Highveld Horse of the Year title in recent weeks.
The Americans’ move baffled even conservative pundits. The Kentucky Derby was by far the biggest thing they’d ever won – or are ever likely to win – so everyone thought they would go for broke and immortality.
By way of context, Sports Illustrated said of Rich Strike’s massive upset at Churchill Downs: “…this nobody of a horse, with a nobody jockey and a nobody trainer and a nobody owner, came knifing along the rails a few strides before the wire to launch himself into history.”
Rich Strike was the longest shot in the field at 80-1. He only got into the race at the last moment, as the fourth reserve runner. He’d cost a negligible $30,000 as a claimer and had won only once before lining up in the US’s most famous race.
Reed nearly died of Covid last year and, before that, nearly quit racing when a barn fire killed all his 23 horses in training. Dawson is what’s known as a “small” owner, buying and selling at the lower end of the market. Jockey Sonny Leon, a refugee from Venezuela, scratches out a living at country tracks.
All this makes their principled decision to bypass the Preakness particularly astounding. They reckoned the two weeks between races was too short a break for their horse – both in terms of what they consider to be his wellbeing and in terms of keeping him rolling for further success.
Hard-bitten racing folk shook their heads, but the Animal Wellness Action group heaped praise on Rich Strike’s connections – a welcome boost for an American game in tatters after several doping and horse welfare scandals.
Rich Strike will be contesting the Belmont Stakes, the American Triple Crown third leg, in three weeks’ time.
Interestingly, Saturday’s Preakness winner Early Voting was kept out of the Kentucky Derby because trainer Chad Brown felt he was not mature or experienced enough for the rigours of the great race. He’ll also skip the Belmont with an eye on keeping him sound for other prizes down the line.
These cool-headed strategies have prompted much debate about the traditional Triple Crown calendar in the US, with some commentators saying the three races are too close together to suit modern racing practice.
Similar discussions take place in South Africa. While the Triple Crown and Triple Tiara legs are scheduled whole months apart, they do step up precipitously in distance from 1600m to 1800m to 2450m – requiring a training feat with an exceptional horse to crack the prize.
Of course, that is a major point of the series, but contesting it takes a toll on a three-year-old horse and no Crown or Tiara winners have gone on to win the Durban July in the same season. That effectively takes a swathe of the country’s rising talent out of the reckoning for the country’s principal race.
The dismal effort of Abashiri in 2017, driven by egotistical fantasies of an owner against the advice of the trainer, was a grotesque example of the Triple Crown-July mountain-to-climb.
Wisely, Tarry and his patron have put silverware in the cabinet and sent Rain In Holland off for a rest and a breathing improvement op, presumably with an eye on another lucrative campaign next season – possibly including the July and Met, or even the Majorca, the Empress Club and the Woolavington.
