Rich Strike confirmed for Clark; Proxy among top challengers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike is confirmed for the Clark, the Grade 1 race that anchors the final five-day stretch to this 19-day meet next Friday.

“As long as we don’t have any hiccups, we’ll be there,” trainer Eric Reed said Wednesday from his Mercury training center. “He’s showing me he’s ready.”

Rich Strike, most recently a distant fourth in the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Classic behind Flightline, is one of just 15 3-year-olds and up nominated to the $750,000 Clark, and depending on who else shows up, the colt might be the lowest odds of his career (he was 7-2 in a Keeneland allowance in October 2021).

Clearly the horse to beat would be West Will Power, a dominating wire-to-wire winner of the Grade 2 Fayette on the Oct. 29 closing-day card at Keeneland. However, trainer Brad Cox said Wednesday he isn’t totally sure whether West Will Power will run in the 1 1/8-mile Clark and who would ride, given that Joel Rosario, who rode the horse in the Fayette, already has committed to Proxy, trained by Mike Stidham.

Another notable Clark nominee, Art Collector, won’t run, said owner Bruce Lunsford, adding the horse currently is in Florida with trainer Bill Mott with an eye on the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in late January.

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Besides Rich Strike and Proxy, other Clark prospects include Double Crown, Fulsome, Injunction, Keystone Field, and King Fury, with two or three more possible. Entries will be drawn Sunday.

The 148th Clark is the biggest of nine stakes to be run here next week. Three of those are graded races tentatively scheduled for the turf – the Grade 3 Cardinal on Thursday, the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere on Friday, and the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf on the closing-day card Sunday.

The second Stars of Tomorrow card of the meet is set for Saturday (Nov. 26), with the Grade 2 twins, the Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod, anchoring a program exclusively for 2-year-olds.

◗ Steve Asmussen, who on Friday will celebrate his 57th birthday, is closing in steadily on the 10,000-win mark. Into Wednesday action, the Hall of Fame trainer has won 9,942 races, with each succeeding victory adding on to the all-time North American record he set in August 2021.

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