Rich Strike owner Dawson looks to conquer another world in the Belmont
For owner Rick Dawson, winning the Kentucky Derby was an out-of-this-world experience.
“What planet is this?” Dawson said. “I feel like I have been propelled somewhere. I’m not sure. This is unbelievable. I asked my trainer up on the stage, I said, ‘Are you sure this is not a dream? Because it can’t be true.’ He assured me, ‘This is real.’ ”
The scene was Planet Earth, Churchill Downs, the first Saturday in May, and Rich Strike had just carried the silks of Dawson’s Red TR-Racing across the wire first in the Kentucky Derby. Some in the stands goggled at the late-charging colt as though he were an unidentified flying object. The former claimer, who drew in off the also-eligible list less than 36 hours prior to post time, returned $163.60, the second-highest payout in Derby history.
Five weeks later, the scene is New York, New York, for the Belmont Stakes. In the interim, some racing fans have eyed Dawson as if he were from another planet, as he announced that his Derby winner would bypass the Preakness Stakes to get better race spacing into the final leg of the classic series and a summer and fall campaign.
It’s time to see if staying that course pays off for Dawson, who has two horses in training and estimates he has owned only 10 or 11, some in partnership, in his life. Dawson, 65 and semi-retired from the oil and gas business, came to ownership as a longtime racing fan. The resident of Edmond, Okla., first saw Keeneland and Churchill Downs while working for an energy company in Owensboro, Ky., in 1990.
“I got in it because I loved it, and it was interesting,” Dawson said. “It was fun.”
A mutual acquaintance on a Kentucky business trip introduced Dawson to Lexington-based Eric Reed, who became his trainer. Dawson liked Reed’s small operation, and that he was willing to patiently answer questions and teach the owner the ropes.
“I was at a point in my life where I had the time and the energy, wanted to go to the farm, wanted to go and learn the business,” Dawson said. “And Eric was so great about teaching me. If I asked him a stupid question, he didn’t say, ‘That’s a stupid question.’ He would give me a great answer and truthfully, and I would learn from that. And that’s how we built what we built.”
Dawson brought plenty of supporters, both near and far, along for the out-of-this-world Kentucky Derby ride. The owner packed 25 friends and family members into a box meant for 18 people at Churchill Downs, where, less than eight months prior, he had claimed Rich Strike for $30,000. He also had a packed house supporting him at the Thunder Roadhouse off-track betting site and restaurant in Oklahoma City, where he is a regular.
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“I think they knocked the roof off the place when we won,” Dawson said.
In fact, Thunder Roadhouse reportedly ran out of cash to pay off winning bets on Rich Strike, and had to send patrons to nearby Remington Park to collect. They’ll be ready for launch on Saturday.