Rich Strike charged through the stretch, passing horses to his inside and outside, rallying as if steered by a gamer with the cheat codes, and upset the Kentucky Derby-G1 with one final surge past Epicenter. The winner was 81-1. The runner-up was favored at 4-1.
A few pages deeper in this magazine, I wrote a long feature about 1972 Preakness winner Bee Bee Bee, his trainer Del Carroll and the passage of time. Carroll died 10 years after that Preakness, stopping a career at 2,224 victories. While far behind Steve Asmussen, Dale Baird, King T. Leatherbury and others, the total still stands tall. Carroll ranks 83rd among trainers by career victories according to Equibase.
Now hear this, I’m no pedigree expert. But breeders might want to start paying attention to Maryland stallion Blofeld.
Consider this a warning. Reading this column could be dangerous to your productivity. It might also be good for your soul.
For all the time and energy spent on the details of Thoroughbred racing – track surfaces, veterinary procedures, medication rules, horsemen’s contracts, stallion choices, licensing, purses, policy, partners, claims, conditions, racing dates, simulcast deals, breeding-fund incentives and about a thousand more – sometimes it’s nice to think about a horse.
Back when I worked at the Cecil Whig, then perhaps the world’s smallest daily newspaper, the bosses would periodically bring in guest speakers to help us learn how to do our jobs better and/or more efficiently.
Bill Reightler stood along the low wall behind the seats in the Timonium sales pavilion and bid $100,000 to buy a dark bay Not For Love filly with three lifetime wins, two in stakes, and some pedigree. Also the filly’s consignor, Reightler was a little sheepish when it came to a post-purchase interview.
“Tough going in the middle . . . it’s either chicken or feathers . . . all soup and no crackers . . . the horses at the top always sell, it’s the ones in the middle that are a struggle . . . the middle market is important to people . . . the middle needs to be better . . . I don’t know what we’re going to do about the middle . . .”
