Kentucky Derby: Overhead video of Rich Strike's upset
I'm sure anybody who's interested in the Kentucky Derby watched it or has seen videos.
But I had't seen this overhead video of the last minute of the race (from Sports Illustrated), with a moving arrow pointing out Rich Strike's position and weaving through the pack. Thought others might like to see it.
https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2022/05/08/rich-strike-kentucky-derby-victory-overhead-view
That was the most massive stretch run I've ever seen. I hope Baffert wasn't hiding in the bushes.
I'm not a racing fan, but this one gave me goose bumps!
Saw this today: Rich Strike wins the Derby and immediately starts trying to eat the other horses.
(actual footage, not a joke!)
That was the most massive stretch run I've ever seen. I hope Baffert wasn't hiding in the bushes.
Daily Double ?
Sorry for the double.
ZENYATTA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ6wLLKtZcg
I saw it and thought it was pretty amazing. Cinderella story, outta nowhere...
Edit: In 2016 the trainer lost 23 horses when his stables were struck by lightning and burned down. He lost everything and rebuilt. Quite a story.
https://nypost.com/2022/05/08/kentucky-derby-rich-strike-trainer-nearly-quit-after-fire/
were there tears in his eyes?
Did Ralph Cifaretti own any of the horses?
What a ride by that jockey. Masterful navigation through traffic and the horse showed the heart of a champion. Great race.
I go back to Secretariat. I thought his 31 length win in the Belmont was the best thing I ever saw on a racetrack. Not anymore. How the jockey found his way in traffic, the horse not shying away from close quarters and then Rich Strike finding a whole new gear and blowing away two excellent horses in the final half furlong. That. Was. Something. Else.
Amazing race, but the quarter mile and half mile pace figures were blistering fast.
Those weren’t typical times for that distance and all of the front runners were absolutely running on fumes at the end of that unexpected sprint out of the gate.
Not sure we learned much about any of the horses yesterday.
"but the quarter mile and half mile pace figures were blistering fast."
"Not sure we learned much about any of the horses yesterday."
Lets see...the early pace was blistering fast yet Rich Strike came from 10 horses back at the head of the stretch to blow away the field. And you say we didn't learn much about any of the horses?
My point is that the race set up was such an outlier that it is unlikely to yield a lot of useful handicapping data on the horses abilities. They won’t encounter that race scenario ever again.
My biggest take away was being impressed that 2nd and 3rd didn’t drop back farther amidst such an unreasonably fast pace set up.
The winner did great. But he very likely couldn’t have made that run if the half was even close to 47 seconds. Or the quarter at 24 . Those would be more common derby split times.
You wouldn’t run a 400 like it was a 40. That is what they did
Reminded me of Willie Shoemaker riding Ferdinand to the win in 1986, going from last to first, masterfully weaving his way to the inside rail at the top of the homestretch. The announcer's call was similar, in that Ferdinand didn't ever get mentioned until all of a sudden he took the lead with less than a furlong to go.
Do the horses know they’re in a race?
Does a fish know it’s wet?
Not unless I see it be wet...
😉
Is a bear Catholic?
I don't know if they know they are wet but what I do know is that it's okay to eat fish because they don't have any feelings.
Dunno if they know they are in a race, but good race horses have a sense that they are running with other horses and want to be in front. They probably have no sense of where the finish line is though, they just know if they are ahead or chasing other horses.
Secretariat always did.
Yes.
And that was jockey Sonny Leon's first ever Derby mount! What an epic thrill for him.
Wow that race was awesome. Rich Strike once he hit the opening found a gear few horses ever have,but also you could see him staring down and running down the lead horse epicenter. That was impressive and you could see how competitive these horses are even when Rich Strike pulled even and pulling ahead Epicenter started to kick more on the stride again.
I loved Rich Strike's glance at the horse next to him. Maybe the tilt of his head was horse trash-talking.
I really wish there was a good close up of the way he was staring down Epicenter from behind. That poor horse had no idea he was about to get posterized.
The nbc angle of the horses running toward the camera shows it well and they zoomed in. It was impressive. You could see Rich Strike, his head was staring at Epicenter in the lead.
He
could
go
all
the
way
touchdown!!!
has to be the most impressive drive through traffic and from way back that I’ve ever seen. Huge kudos to horse and rider.
Looked like Barry Sanders out there.
More like a dude on a crotch-rocket weaving in and out of traffic going down the highway.
Incredible. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t follow horse racing whatsoever but that was really awesome to watch.
I think it was amazing how, at the top of the stretch, he ran into a fading horse, stepped aside, and then just put it right back into gear. That's a rare talent for human or horse.
It almost looked as if he turned a corner to get around a horse.
Over the course of the race I think "Rich Strike" was only uttered twice. Once fairly early when the announcer simply went through the entire lineup, and then again at the very end when he wins.
Exhilarating. Easily the most exciting horse race I've ever seen.
Yeah, it's kind of funny how the track announcer doesn't mention Rich Strike until he has just about overtaken Epicenter even though you can see Rich Strike charging hard from behind for a while down the home stretch.
One thing that seems to have been forgotten was that this horse ran from Gate 21, the farthest outside gate on the track. Horses may win from the outside but how many horses win from a Gate 21? That means this horse had to run farther and faster than any other horse just to join the pack! And essentially run through 20 other horses. Amazing.
How can anyone forget the announcer telling us to ignore this horse since it was basically a throw-in afterthought and with 80-1 odds? I mean, three or four hours of coverage up to the race and it seemed like every other horse was over-covered and this one totally forgotten.
Totally insane! I'm old enough to remember Silky Sullivan and it sure reminded me of that horse, but even more! Silky Sullivan never won the Derby -- though a favorite in 1958, he finished 12th.
Your point is completely correct--it is crazy that he came from the farthest outside to win.
However since 1975 there isn't a Gate #21. The field is limited to 20 horses. Even though Rich Strike wore #21, he was actually in Gate 20. A horse scratched and they didn't reuse the number.
He was in gate 20, so second winner from that post (Big Brown 1st ). Saddle cloth was 21 because he was an also eligible.
Remarkable.
I've watched probably 50x now and I can't stop lol. Like watching Usain Bolt just flip a switch and blow everyone else away. Incredible.
And to add, he only made the field, on Friday, because of a scratch. Amazing.
That angle is incredible & gave me chills
A Ziyah Holman type run.
I thought the same thing!
Totally different race dynamics overall, but Rich Strike's seemingly effortless acceleration past all the other horses reminds me of Secretariat's explosion in the early part of the '73 Preakness—he was dead last going into the first turn, but then basically just hit the afterburners and easily took the lead for the duration of the race.
I've been watching old Secretariat tapes on YouTube recently and when I saw the linked clip of this weekend's Derby (which I wasn't able to watch live) I drew the same comparison you did. It is incredibly exhilarating watching a horse blow by the entire field.
And yet Secretariat running away from the field like they are of a different species ("Secretariat is all alone!") probably still stands out to me to be the greatest horse racing feat ever.
What's weird is that I've never been a horse racing fan—I really don't care about the sport in any way—but I watched all three Triple Crown races live in '73, and have repeatedly watched the videos of all three races since I dug them up a few years ago. I still get a strange thrill watching them now, and I can't explain it.
I think part of it might be Chick Anderson's calls—he was fabulous at describing the race action.
"He is moving like a tremendous machine!" is one of the greatest play-by-play calls in all of sports history.
Horses