Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike won’t run in the Preakness Stakes

U.S. thoroughbred racing will not have a Triple Crown winner this summer.

Rick Dawson, the owner of Rich Strike, announced on Thursday the Kentucky Derby winner will not run in the Preakness Stakes on May 21.

Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday as an 80-1 long shot, the second-steepest odds ever overcome by a winner in the Run for the Roses.

Dawson released a statement on Thursday that read: “Our original plan for Rich Strike was contingent on the Kentucky Derby. Should we not run in the Derby, we would point toward the Preakness. Should we run in the Derby, subject to the race outcome and the condition of our horse, we would give him more recovery time and rest and run in the Belmont or another race and stay on course to run with five or six weeks rest between races.”

Rich Strike had won one of his seven races when the colt got a place in the Kentucky Derby field after two other horses scratched.

Fifteenth in the 20-horse field with one-quarter of a mile to the wire in the 1.25-mile race, Rich Strike ran down betting favorite Epicenter and morning-line favorite Zandon in the stretch to win the Kentucky Derby by three-quarters of a length at Churchill Downs.

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Only one winner in the 147 previous runnings of the Kentucky Derby had gone off at longer odds – Donerail, which captured the 1913 race at 91-1.

By winning the Kentucky Derby, Rich Strike became the Triple Crown candidate for 2022. But the number of Triple Crown champions will remain at 13 with the Kentucky Derby winner skipping the second race in the series. The third race, the Belmont Stakes, is scheduled for June 11.

“Obviously, with our tremendous effort and win in the Derby, it’s very, very tempting to alter our course and run in the Preakness at Pimlico, which would be a great honor for all our group,” Dawson said. “However, after much discussion and consideration with my trainer, Eric Reed, and a few others, we are going to stay with our plan of what’s best for Ritchie is what’s best for our group and pass on running in the Preakness, and point toward the Belmont in approximately five weeks.”

The Triple Crown winners have been Sir Barton in 1919, Gallant Fox in 1930, Omaha in 1935, War Admiral in 1937, Whirlaway in 1941, Count Fleet in 1943, Assault in 1946, Citation in 1948, Secretariat in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977, Affirmed in 1978, American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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