2022 Belmont Stakes clocker: Rich Strike puts in strong two-mile gallop
BELMONT PARK
Weather: Clear
Track: Fast
Temp: 65
ELMONT, N.Y. - Any notion that RICH STRIKE had emptied the tank with his monster performance a month earlier at Churchill Downs may have finally been dismissed once and for all here Tuesday morning. The Kentucky Derby winner turned in an eye-catching two-mile gallop over the main track shortly after the renovation break.
Training in idyllic conditions, the weather cool and clear throughout the morning, Rich Strike had to wait through a brief delay before the track finally reopened at 8:55 a.m. After jogging up the stretch alongside a pony, Rich Strike began his long journey on the clubhouse turn and seemed eager to get to the task at hand right from the outset.
Gaining momentum steadily once turning into the backstretch, Rich Strike began to quicken with each succeeding furlong. By the time he hit the five-eighths pole, he was clearly travelling at far better than a two-minute pace and from that point he proceeded to “gallop” the next mile in 1:52.03 with his final three furlongs from the wire back midway around the turn in a slick 40.50. His rider tried his best to slow things down as the pair came bounding down the stretch and through the wire.
From his sharp work prior to leaving Churchill Downs eight days earlier to this morning’s long and spirited gallop, Rich Strike has given every indication he should be sitting on another strong effort in the finale of this year’s Triple Crown.
A little more than an hour earlier, WE THE PEOPLE, who drew the rail and was established the 2-1 morning line favorite for the Belmont, countered with another very encouraging morning of his own, galloping a mile and one half under control while appearing to want to do more than his rider/trainer Rodolphe Brisset would allow on his second day back to the track after turning in a very sharp half-mile breeze here last Saturday.