Rich Strike works five furlongs before heading to Saratoga for Travers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will soon be on his way to Saratoga after being sent through what trainer Eric Reed described as an “easy-as-he-could” workout early Wednesday at Churchill Downs.

Rich Strike gave his Reed stablemate, the 4-year-old gelding Common Bond, a head start down the backside before passing him from the outside and pulling away down the stretch, getting five furlongs in 59.40 seconds over a fast track. The six-furlong gallop-out time was 1:13.29, according to Churchill clocker John Nichols.

“This was the kind of move we were wanting out of him,” Reed said of Rich Strike, who goes next in the Aug. 27 Travers at Saratoga.

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Regular exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes was aboard Rich Strike, who was posting his fifth timed workout since he finished sixth in the June 11 Belmont Stakes. The Keen Ice colt was vanned Tuesday evening to Churchill from Reed’s Mercury training base and was to return to the Lexington facility several hours after cooling out Wednesday morning.

In the pre-dawn work, Rich Strike “had his head cocked in the beginning,” said Reed. “Gabe said after he went by the other horse that he was trying to slow the horse down from the middle of the turn to the wire because he thought he was going a little quick.”

After Rich Strike returns to Mercury, “we’ll pull blood on him [Thursday], go over him, make sure he’s healthy and ready,” Reed added. “We’ll load him on a van probably late Saturday or early Sunday and send him on up to Saratoga” for what is about a 13-hour trip.

After getting a day or so to acclimate, Rich Strike will ease back into training and eventually will have “an easy half-mile” at Saratoga as a final breeze toward the Grade 1 Travers, said Reed. “I’m really happy with how he’s come out of the Belmont and with how he’s acting and everything else. He’s something.”

Rich Strike, claimed by Reed on behalf of Rick Dawson’s RED-TR Racing for $30,000 at Churchill last September, has won twice in nine starts, with his 80-1 stunner over Epicenter and Zandon in the May 7 Derby at Churchill being the obvious high point. Sonny Leon, who rode the colt in his last six races, has the Travers mount.

Rich Strike once again figures as an outsider in the 1 1/4-mile Mid-Summer Derby. Epicenter looms a solid favorite off his authoritative triumph in the July 30 Jim Dandy at Saratoga, with at least Cyberknife, Charge It, Zandon, and Artorius among the opponents likely to be lower odds than Rich Strike, assuming they run.

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Reed said he intends to stay close to Rich Strike throughout the Travers run-up. The 57-year-old trainer’s health has stabilized after he went through a recent procedure to ease the chronic pain in his back, and while he’s looking forward to having his Derby winner back in the spotlight, he’s also ready to enjoy some quiet time in upstate New York.

“I like staying in Lake George because I’m not a big crowd guy,” said Reed, whose most recent Saratoga visit came in 2013. “I like to get a spot where I’m kind of away and don’t have to hustle and bustle.”