LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike had his final pre-race breeze toward the Oct. 1 Lukas Classic, shipping in for a five-furlong workout well before dawn Wednesday under the Churchill Downs lights. With regular exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes aboard, Rich Strike went in 1:01.40 over a fast track. “Gabriel said it was like he was just galloping,” trainer Eric Reed said afterward. The work was the second for Rich Strike since the Keen Ice colt finished fourth in the Aug. 27 Travers at Saratoga, with the first coming Sept. 13 at Reed’s Mercury training center on the outskirts of Lexington. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! Rich Strike will face older horses for the first time in the Grade 2, $400,000 Lukas Classic, most notably Hot Rod Charlie, the 4-year-old colt with more than $5.25 million in career earnings. Sonny Leon has the mount on Rich Strike as usual. Rich Strike, owned by the RED TR-Racing of Rick Dawson, has raced twice since his epic 80-1 upset of the May 7 Kentucky Derby at Churchill. He was sixth in the June 11 Belmont Stakes prior to the Travers. A daytime high of 96 was in the Louisville forecast for Wednesday. Reed, who lives in Versailles, about 40 minutes from his training center on the northwestern outskirts of Lexington, said he was trying to “beat the heat” by getting up at 3 a.m. Eastern to drive to Churchill to meet Rich Strike, who arrived shortly after nightfall Tuesday after being vanned in from Mercury. Rich Strike hit the track around 5:30 before going in splits of 12.80 and 25.40, with a six-furlong gallop-out time of 1:14.40, according to Churchill clocker John Nichols. “I didn’t want a real hard work, coming back just eight days from the first one back,” said Reed. “I was shocked at how good he worked. Gabriel was tickled, so I’m happy, too. The horse is starting to not kill himself in his works. If he’ll get that way, I’ll get even more out of him.” Rich Strike was to return to Mercury later in the morning. Reed said the colt would undergo chiropractic work and light training in the coming days before returning Sunday to Churchill, where he will train up to the 1 1/8-mile Lukas. “We’re going after a big bear,” he said of Hot Rod Charlie. “It’s a tall order, our first time against older horses going a mile and an eighth, but after this work, I feel like he’s coming up to it the right way.” Reed has not committed on running Rich Strike in the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland, saying the outcome of the Lukas will help determine whether the Classic or the Nov. 25 Clark at Churchill will be Rich Strike's final start of the year. Nominations for the Lukas were to be released Wednesday.